The Breakdown
by classycontour
Summary: Love, betrayals, friendships, pain, rewards, revenge, disappointments, guilt and affairs all wrapped up into one story to give you the true meaning of reality. This includes Doc Hudson and all my main characters. Huge purpose! DocxOC
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER ONE**

Brian slammed the doors to Dr. Norton's office open with a violent force.

"Am I late?" Brian asked, looking around the room. He spotted Dr. Norton in the corner near a desk reading files.

"Almost," Norton said, looking up at Brian. "I was just about to go in the lobby. Glad you finally showed up."

Brian was out of breath from the quick race to his pre-made appointment with this guy. He studied Norton as he approached him.

He was a solid black car of the early '40's, with a low, soothing voice that made him sound older than he was.

Brian remembered why he didn't want to be here when he started looking at all of the awards and plaques Norton received over the years of being a psychologist.

He grunted in resentment. There was no way that Brian, of all cars, would be talking to a shrink.

He spoke before Norton could, "Let's get something straight. I'm not your _friend_, so don't talk to me like you know me. Second, don't treat me like all of your other patients. I'm not psycho like they are."

Norton laughed, "Dave told me you'd say that."

"Dave says a lot of things." Brian shut off his engine, "Let's get this over with, I've got a meeting with Mr. Harris down at the track in exactly one hour."

Norton shut off his engine as well, "Dave scheduled you here for one hour. The longer you keep complaining, the more time you have with me."

Brian tightened his mouth, "Fine, what are we doing today?"

"I've got a list of names here, and when I call them out, give me one word to describe them. Then tell me why you choose that word."

Brian thought about Norton's attitude, curious as to why the man would tolerate his. "Alright," Brian said looking him up and down, "Read them names you've got."

Norton smiled at Brian's subtle protest. He gathered the papers and began. "Dave." Norton said, then looked at Brian.

Brian looked from Norton to the ceiling. "Peacekeeper, and if that's not one word, too bad, because that's what he is."

"Care to elaborate?"

"No, but since I have to, Dave's the peacekeeper simply because he's always fixing problems. Whether at work, or at home. He deals with everyone's nonsense, and still has time to deal with his nagging wife, Joanna."

Norton laughed slightly, "What's he like?"

"Well, aside from his erratic driving--"

"Erratic, how?"

Brian was a bit stunned that Norton had the nerve to interrupt one of his patients. But then again, they had an agreement stating that Brian was not one of his patients. Brian continued, "Dave's either on the gas or on the brake. That's why we don't let him lead our little group."

"Why is his driving so erratic?"

"It's apparently all the stress that's dumped on him. After managing four companies each day at work, he comes home to our problems."

"Go on."

"And on top of that, he's been trying to get me to stop drinking these past four years, and every time he doesn't get through to me, he feels like a failure."

"Dave told me that you two often have fights, is that true?"

"Of course, but that's just testosterone..."

Norton listened to the way Brian had said that and remembered what Dave had told him over the phone. "Are you sure that it's not something from the past?"

Brian looked at him with a stone cold stare that seemed to cause Norton some uneasiness. Norton knew he had struck a nerve, he was going to bring this incident up later. He quickly changed the subject, feeling the tension fill the room. "So, you and Dave fight. Are you aware just how much you effect him when you do?"

Brian closed his eyes, feeling the guilt after all the years of putting Dave down. When all he's ever done was try to help him get through his own crucial problem. "Yes, yes I do know how much it effects him, and how it adds more stress." Brian said, opening his eyes to see Norton writing something down.

Brian didn't say anything he didn't have to say. He tried to keep most of his thoughts to himself.

Brian remembered that night when Dave told him he had stayed awake every single night since he started drinking to make sure that he came home safely from the bar.

Now Brian really felt bad, wasn't a shrink supposed to make you feel better?

Brian sank where he sat, Dave was a true friend, and his all this time. It was then he realized that Dave had raced with him and the boys down at the track to be free. To escape all his problems, his last hope for freedom was to feel the wind rush by him. Never again would Brian put Dave down.

"Joanna." Norton said.

Brian took his gaze off the wall in front of him, snapping back into reality. "What?"

"The next name, Joanna."

"Oh, her," Brian thought a minute. "Moody," He said flatly.

He looked at Norton for approval to continue. Norton gave him the go ahead for him to do so, and Brian began. "She's moody all the time, with a slight case of road rage. She doesn't take kindly to stupidness either."

Norton began to write and waved his tire at Brian for him to keep talking.

"She's a good car at heart, but her and Dave both got married before either knew what they were looking for in others. They also got married too young, they both settled down way before they ever wanted to, and it really cost them." Brian said, thinking about how they got married at the end of their first year.

"Sure, they've threatened for divorce, but Dave always makes it work somehow. One of Dave's other duties is dealing with that woman. Dave's got himself into a difficult situation right now. He's rich, real rich, and anyone he'd ever consider marriage with would most likely be a fraud, only wanting him for his money."

"Are you saying that Dave doesn't love Joanna?" Norton asked.

"No, he really does. It's just sad that Joanna might not love him. She only smiles when she's not around him. Every Thursday night, Dave goes to a 'rich cars club' and that's where he goes to relax. It's mainly Englishmen from across the sea, bragging about how rich they are and what they own."

Brian sighed long and hard, "Dave hasn't had time to relax in four damn years, and every time he tries, something goes wrong. That scares me, actually. I worry about him, and the fact that he's about to run into a dead end makes me more worried..."

Brian felt even more worse about his friendship with Dave. Knowing he wasn't helping him through all this commotion, and wondering if Dave thought about all of this before.

"Before we get carried away, let's move on down the list of names." Norton suggested.

Brian sighed again. He was thinking about what else could possibly make him feel miserable about his bad choices in his life. Dave was now his main concern, and he was going to do everything he could to make Dave's life easier and more livable for him.

For a brief moment, Brian thought about giving up drinking, then laughed loudly.

Norton looked up from his papers at Brian. "Care to tell me what was so funny?"

"Not really..."

"Okay, next name?" Norton asked him.

"Sure..."

"Hudson." He stated, then looked back at Brian.

Brian smirked, "Loyal."

"Strong word."

"Hudson's loyal not only to me as a best friend, but to his girl, Laura."

"Pretty name, Laura." Norton stated.

"I always thought that too..."

The two sat there a minute, then Norton cut in. "Back to the subject."

"Oh, right. Hudson's a great guy with a lot of potential. He's got a great starting career, and has his future in his focus."

"What's his job?"

Brian was hesitant, "Fabulous, Hudson Hornet..." He said rather quietly.

Norton's eyes lit up, "Really? How do you know him?"

"You're looking at his trainer."

Brian wasn't comfortable talking about racing outside of the headquarters or without the team.

"What an honor, I had no idea."

Brian smiled and decided to get clever, "Back to the subject."

Norton chuckled, "Of course..."

"So anyways, what else could I say about Hudson to make him look good?" Brian said thinking out loud. "For one thing, he's extremely shy, but all in all, the perfect guy for Laura. He's very delicate with her."

"Why delicate?"

"He doesn't push her, and makes sure she's always happy. Sort of like Dave does, but more successful."

Norton laughed again, "Anything else you'd like to say about Hudson?"

"Sure, why not. He's fantastic, made best friends with him fairly easily. It took me a while to come around, but he was persistent in being there for me."

"What do you mean it took you a while to come around?" Norton asked.

That awkward silence came back, and Norton figured he had struck the same nerve again. Brian decided not to be a jerk this time, "Hudson's a good guy with a bright future. He doesn't let anyone take advantage of him. He's got a lot to learn in life, but I made him tough and he can only advance. Next?"

Norton looked at his list of names, "Laura."

"Dainty." Brian stretched out his choice of word to show that he meant it. "She's very dainty, and never does anything rough. She's considerate, with tons of friends that love her. She's still cautious around our rowdy group of friends, but I can tell she's going to be around for a long time. I doubt Hudson would do anything to screw up the good thing that he's got... I have to admit, they make a great pair, and hopefully they'll have future plans."

"So you want them to continue their relationship?"

"Most definitely. They're talking all the time, and haven't fought once."

Brian hoped that Norton wasn't asking about Laura and Doc just to pry into a celebrity's personal life. Doc was well known by the end of 1953, and everyone wanted to know more about the couple.

"Alright, next name is James."

Brian shot back an answer immediately, "Sarcastic." He wasn't slow with the follow-up for the word either. "He's rude sarcastic most of the time, and is always pissing someone off."

"Does he make you mad?"

"Not really, I usually have some snappy comeback to shut him up. There's not much to tell you about him that would be of interest."

Norton began to write as Brian thought.

"Although, there was this one time he convinced Dave and everyone to help me stop drinking. It had been two nights that I had been totally sober, and the third, we went out for a night on the town. I was forced to order something I didn't want, while everyone else got themselves something they had been craving. James was last to order, and what does he order? One of my favorite drinks! I watched him drink it with a gleam in his eyes that told me he ordered it on purpose... I couldn't tell if he was trying to be smart or not, but I sure let him know otherwise. I waited for the waitress to leave before I popped James on the hood and knocked his glass away."

"Did you feel bad about your actions afterwards?"

"Yeah, I wasted good liquor."

Norton wasn't surprised by Brian's answer. From what information he had gathered about him, he could tell that he was that kind of car. "Okay, before you get mad about James, shall we move onto the next name?"

"Yes, please…"

"How about Mason?"

"Quiet."

"Okay, tell me more." Norton told him.

"There's not much to tell you, he's very quiet. He does his job without complaint, and doesn't question anyone or anything. He stays out of your way, and he doesn't need anyone's help until he's working in the team on race day. He's very independent, and all he needs is a drink at the end of the week to keep him happy."

Norton wrote some more notes down while Brian talked. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heard him talk! Sad, huh?" Brian said, trying to be amusing.

"He sounds simple."

"He is, and very dependable."

"I don't think we can talk anymore about him. We're coming up on the last name here..."

Brian had waited anxiously to hear that name today in this session.

"Sadie." Norton finally said.

Brian had an immediate response, "Perfect."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she's perfect in every way. Words can't describe how perfect she is." Brian questioned his last statement about Sadie. "Actually, words _could_ describe her, but they wouldn't do her justice..."

"I'm taking it that she's yours?"

"Hell no!" Brian blurted, correcting him, "I wish!"

"Information?"

"I'll just sum things up for you: we both like each other, but agreed not to go out."

"Why?" He asked, just out of curiosity.

"We have our own reasons..."

"Not compatible?"

Brian looked at him like he was stupid, "What part of the word _perfect _don't you understand? I said we had our reasons, isn't that enough? You're lucky I've told you as much as I did, you're lucky Sadie convinced me to come here today. Otherwise, you'd be sitting here alone, prepping yourself for one of those psychos waiting to talk to you outside your door."

"Good point," Norton said playing along, "Thanks for sharing that information with me."

Brian didn't like that he was getting sarcastic, "Hey," He said, turning to face him, "Don't push it."

Norton knew he had gotten far with Brian today. He had been successful far passed he imagined. Norton looked up at the clock behind Brian. "Well, I don't want you to be late for that meeting of yours with Mr. Harris. Your hour's up, you're free to go."

"Gee, didn't know I was being interrogated." Brian said heading for the door. He had uncovered more about himself than he thought he would. He had a lot to think about tonight at the bar.

As Norton was heading back to his desk, Brian turned around. "I thought I should say thanks. You know, for listening to me."

Norton turned back to acknowledge his comment. "Well, it is my job." They smiled, "I'll see you back here Wednesday..." Norton said, continuing to his desk.

Brian lost his smile, "What do you mean Wednesday? I thought this was a one time thing?"

Brian drove closer to Norton's desk as he got behind it. "I wouldn't have asked for so much information if I didn't plan on talking about it later. Now that I know about your home life, I know what to talk about during our next session."

Brian exhaled sharply, "Fine, see you Wednesday."

"It was a pleasure meeting you Brian, have a good day."

Brian turned around to leave again, then came back to Norton. "Oh, one more thing--"

"You can't make up your mind whether or not you want to leave, can you?"

Brian sat there in front of Norton's desk with a blank expression, "Second interruption..."

"I'm sorry, go ahead."

"Tell Jack Frost out there to stop shaking. It's not cold."

"That's Monty, he has a condition." Norton informed him.

"Just make sure I'm not the one to fix his condition..."

"Get going, I'm sure Mr. Harris is a busy man."

"He is, but he's never to busy to talk to me." Brian turned to leave, this time he was going to.

He was at the door when Norton added a final comment, "You may not know this, but Dave's probably the one who saved you from yourself years ago."

Brian stopped where he was, just inches from the door. A chill went through his crankshaft at the mere thought of what Norton knew and meant by that. He hoped that he didn't know too much about him.

Brian didn't look back, instead, he remained where he had braked with his eyes shut tight. "Goodbye, Dr. Norton." He said softly.

Brian pushed his way through the doors and slowly exited.

Norton looked down at the list of names he had read to Brian that afternoon. As the double doors swung shut, Norton's eyes went down the list towards the last name. There had been a name not mentioned in the session. Norton had purposely not called it out, that name was Colton.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TWO**

Norton picked up the phone next to him, he thought it was best that he inform Dave of the situation. As he dialed, he began to plan out his part of the conversation. It rang and he waited.

Finally, a voice answered, it was Joanna.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Yes, this is Dr. Norton, is Dave around?"

"One moment…" Joanna drove from the phone to find Dave. Once retrieved, Dave went to talk to Norton.

"Hello?"

"Dave, it's Norton."

Dave was hoping he'd call him after the session. "How'd things go?"

"Good, better than I expected."

"Any trouble?"

"Not at all, but he's quite the character…"

"Yes, yes he is," Dave said approvingly.

"I just called to tell you that Colton's name was not mentioned like you suggested, I didn't want to overwhelm him. Also, it's best that you don't ask him how it went today. He was fine until the last few moments he was in my office. He's got a lot to think about, and is a bit shaken up. Right now he's headed towards that meeting he has with Mr. Harris."

"Okay, thank you Dr. Norton." The two hung up the phone and went on with the day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian drove down the street barely keeping up with the pace. Coming into this side of town was rare for him, he doesn't normally travel all the way over here.

There was a lot on Brian's mind right now, mainly Norton's last statement. He wondered if Dave had told Norton about Colton before he had came to the session. Then again, it was possible that now Norton know who Brian was and what his job was, that he remembered the accident years ago.

Or was it simply a mind game?

Brian wanted someone to blame for bringing back old memories today. He narrowed his eyes and singled out Dave, but he immediately let go of that thought as he remembered all the guilt he had felt during the session when talking about Dave's life.

Brian grew aggravated, he was so confused about life right now. Nothing seemed to fit. But he knew for sure that he wasn't going to let guilt get the better of him. There was no way that guilt would change him into a different guy, a different personality.

Then it hit him, guilt _had_ changed him. Though he shouldn't have, he felt guilty for taking Colton up on the race that ended his life. Brian knew that he shouldn't feel any guilt, but his mind told him otherwise. If it wasn't for the grief and guilt experienced after Colton's death, he wouldn't be his gruff-mannered self today.

Brian shook his body in disgust, there was nothing wrong with him. He told himself that over and over again in his mind until he remembered something good in life, drinking.

Just then, the car behind him honked his horn at him. Brian realized he was going a bit slow, but as long as he wasn't working for that car, he didn't intend on listening to him. He slammed on the brakes, the car behind him barely stopped in time.

Brian continued driving at the pace he had been going. Mr. Harris could wait, he had some thinking to do right now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian was driving back home from the meeting with Mr. Harris. His thoughts had been changed since the session, but he'd be back to normal by tonight when he got to see Sadie. She was at work today, and when she was, he only got to see her at nights in the bar.

He opened the front door and saw Dave reading this morning's paper. "Hey," he said looking up, "How'd the meeting go?"

"Which one?" Brian asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Mr. Harris?"

"Oh, it went good. He wanted my opinion on a new track he wants built." Brian was not only an employee of Dave's team, but a highly respected and an extremely valued car of the South Carolina's Racing Headquarters for it's well being. When ever changes were going to be made, Brian was consulted first. Many could say that Brian did more good for the Headquarters than most others, and that said a lot.

"That's good…" Dave said, flipping a page in the newspaper.

Brian was a bit curious as to why Dave hadn't asked about the session. There was silence in the room while Brian sat there and Dave read.

"Aha!" Dave boomed, "One of my company's ratings went up. That adjustment I made last week proved to be better after all."

Brian recalled all the companies Dave owned and managed, and how hard it was for him to keep everything in working order.

"Here I was," Dave continued, "Worried sick that my decision would have killed it…"

"Where's Hudson?" Brian asked, afraid to get into a discussion about Dave's jobs.

"He's out with Laura somewhere."

"Where's Joanna?"

"At the store." Dave was concerned with all the questions, "Why?"

"Where's James and Mason?"

"You just missed them, they're heading into town as well. Seriously, what's wrong?"

"We're still best friends, right?"

"Of course, you okay?"

Brian sighed, "How about I treat you to a drink tonight…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Monday nights were slow in the bar. Brian and Dave sat there talking. Brian had bought Dave what ever he wanted. No matter the price, no matter the amount.

"It sure is nice taking a break from everything. This place is better than I remembered."

Sadie gave Dave another shot, she listened intently on their conversation.

Brian decided not to drink tonight, instead, keeping Dave company was good enough. Sadie was happy that they were getting along.

Dave put his drink down, "I don't get it, why you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

Brian turned to face him, "This is just my way of saying thanks, thanks for keeping everyone together all this time." Brian had came up with the conclusion, that without Dave, everyone would have separated. Leaving Brian to fend for himself after the accident.

"How do you mean?" Dave asked, surprised at Brian's new behavior.

"Well, I'm talking about our group. You work hard to keep everyone together, make sure that there are no fights. For that, thank you." Sadie smiled at Brian as he looked over at her. She continued cleaning. "This is the least I can do for you, Dave, you needed this."

"I sure appreciate it. But they wouldn't leave or split up. We're all too good of friends to just _leave_." He said, trying not to take all of the credit.

Dave finished off another drink, "You think I'll be okay to drive home? The last time I filled up like this, things didn't go so well…" Dave said, recalling on another night years ago.

Brian had to admit, he did order some hard liquor for Dave, and a lot of it. "As long as we get you home quick enough, I'll sit out in the front yard with you while you burn your drinks off."

Dave laughed at the possibilities of how this could go wrong, "Sounds good to me." He lost his smile when he thought of something. "What about Joanna?"

Brian rolled his eyes, "Forget her, it's about time you had a break from life."

Dave perked up, "You're right, absolutely right! I've got a few things to say to her before I fall asleep. Let's go Brian…"

"Whoa whoa, don't get yourself in trouble with her."

"It seems like no matter what I do, I end up in trouble with her anyways."

Brian knew that was true. As Dave started for the door, Brian turned back to Sadie. "Hey, sorry I can't drive you home tonight. I've gotta make sure Dave makes it back alright." She understood what he had to do and smiled at him. "Isn't tomorrow your day off? Tuesday?"

"It sure is." She told him.

"Great, I'll see you then. Take care."

He turned around to catch up with Dave who was already outside. This was the first night Brian hadn't drove Sadie home since they met, and he felt like his whole schedule was off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wednesday came all to soon for Brian, and there were too many possibilities for his next session with Norton to go wrong.

Brian arrived to the waiting room a little earlier this time. Sitting there waiting to be called on, he found himself directly across from Monty.

His and Monty's eyes locked. Brian stared him down, giving off a sort of dominance projection. Slowly, Monty's shaking dwindled from the death stare he got from Brian.

He looked away from Brian and backed further against the wall, feeling a bit threatened. Brian was certainly not a car you messed with. If you did, you would find out that it wasn't a smart choice. Brian could make anyone back down, it was a skill he formed, possessed, and perfected.

Putting Monty in his place, Brian began to look around at everyone he didn't get to see Monday afternoon. Everyone he saw just reminded him even more that he didn't belong here.

He must have had been there not five minutes when his name was called. Driving down the row of cars, he pushed open Dr. Norton's heavy office doors. "Hello, how've you been?" He asked him, shutting off his engine and gliding to a stop.

Norton looked up from his desk, "Good, yourself?"

"Eh, same I guess." Brian didn't bother telling him that he treated Dave to a few drinks the other night. He didn't feel like trying to convince Norton he was actually nice. "What are we doing today?" He asked him, Norton was still at his desk.

"Just let me finish this right here, and I'll explain." Norton continued writing and Brian looked the room over. "Okay!" Norton said, grabbing Brian's attention, "Let's get this session started."

He grabbed a sheet of paper, and headed towards Brian.

Looking past Norton, Brian noticed a picture frame on his desk. "Is that your wife?" He asked.

Norton braked where he was, halfway to Brian. "What?"

"On your desk, is that your wife?" He repeated, gesturing towards the desk.

"Oh," he said, looking back. "Yes, that is." Norton continued over to Brian.

"What's her name?"

Norton was hesitant, but he answered. "I'm not really supposed to discuss my life with my clients, but since you're different, her name's Carol."

Brian wasn't sure if he should be offended by that statement or not. He asked Norton about it before he reacted. "What do you mean different?"

"Let's just say you've got more sense in you than everyone else." He said, pulling up in front of Brian.

It didn't take long for Brian to figure out that Norton was referring to everyone's mental state. "Oh, good to know that you didn't put me in a classification with them." Brian chuckled.

"I never have, and never will. You're someone I can actually have an intellectual conversation with. You can also form coherent sentences, which is hard to come by these days."

"You've got that right…"

"So, getting to the session, I circled a few names on the list from last time that I felt had a big impact on your life."

Brian grew cautious, "Which names?" He didn't want anything to come up.

Norton looked down at his paper, "Let's see, I have Dave, Hudson, and Sadie as my main choices."

Brian rolled his eyes, "Look, pal, I'm not discussing them. Or anything else for that matter." Brian knew Norton had picked the cars he valued the most.

"Why is that?"

"Because, this wasn't my idea, and I don't need to be here."

"You might as well make the best of it…"

Brian was getting agitated, "What are we gonna talk about? Gasoline? I don't need anyone's help! If anyone should be here talking to you, it's Dave!"

Norton shushed him, "Calm down, inside voice…"

"Forget you, monotone!"

"No need for name calling--"

"Hey," Brian snapped, "I don't need to explain anything to anyone, my thoughts are perfectly fine inside my mind."

"All you have to do is explain to me how you feel about those three cars I named, and you can go home."

"Why? For what reason?" Brian asked.

"Things aren't going to get better unless you talk about it."

Now Brian really hated this guy, how much did he know about him? "Listen, tart, I'm doing fine on my own. Get it?"

Norton wanted this resolved peacefully, but from the looks of things, that wasn't going to happen. "Oh really? Is that why you still drink?"

That statement stopped Brian's train of thought. For a brief moment, he couldn't think of anything to say. "No, I can stop drinking anytime I want--"

"They all say that, Brian."

"How would you know?" He boomed. The more they argued, the more Colton flashed in Brian's memory.

"You think you're the only drunkard that's been in my office?" Norton pointed out, losing his usual cool. "I know you're not like most of the cars out in the lobby, Brian, but if you don't start talking it through, you'll keep living the life you hate."

Brian's eyes lit up in a fit of rage, "Forget you! Crazy fool, what made you think I'd actually explain my problem to you?"

Norton smiled, and Brian realized he had said something that he wanted to hear. "See, you said it yourself. You do have a problem."

Brian laughed, "What am I doing here? I can leave anytime I want! No one's keeping me here."

He started up his engine and headed for the double doors. Norton didn't follow him, "Stay here for Dave, he cares about you."

Brian halted at the doors, feeling guilt swell up inside him again. If he left, he would be letting Dave down. The guilt was gone, now there was a mixture of hate and confusion telling him too many things at once.

Norton slowly pulled up behind Brian who was at loss of words. "Make this easier on yourself, come back over and talk. What did you think was going to happen when you came back here today? What were you expecting? You knew what we were going to do and talk about."

Brian wanted to lash around and confront him, but instead he tried the double doors. When he did, he bounced back, "Since when did these damn doors get locks?"

"Brian…"

"No, I'm leaving!"

Norton knew that Brian had came back today with hope that there _would _be help, and maybe he could receive some.

Watching Brian continuously put pressure on the double doors made Norton realize that he was determined to keep to himself. He could tell Brian was most vulnerable at this moment. The more Brian got scared, the more defensive he got.

Brian repeatedly hit the doors, each time with more anger.

"Brian, I know you don't like being here, and I know you--"

"You must think together, we'll come up with something that I don't already know." He said, pushing on the doors again, "But the truth is, I've had a lot of time to think about all that's happened within four years."

Brian pushed on the door again, "And depending on how well you know me, or how much Dave has told you, you know what I'm talking about, correct?"

Brian didn't wait for an answer from Norton. "The way I see it, that's a job well done, and I have the right to go home!"

For the first time in Norton's career as a psychologist, he knew he had been beat, but he was persistent. "Brian--"

"And unless you want to lose some beautiful, black stained oak doors, I suggest you unlock them!"

Norton understood that Brian was serious, but there was so much he didn't see in himself that he was missing. Like the key answers to being happy again. "I can't do that Brian, try to be reasonable here. We'll set boundaries, limits to what you want to talk about." Norton wanted more than anything to help Brian out now.

That did it for Brian. With one final shove, the double doors broke free with a cracking sound that told anyone in the building that those doors were now useless. The more Brian pushed on the doors, the more the lock panels split. A huge vertical line was clearly visible from the resistance they had given off when being tested by Brian. The doors, crooked on their hinges, sat there loosely.

Brian made his way through the broken doors, drove into the lobby and did a circle to come back to face Norton who sat in the doorway, astonished. "You can't say I didn't warn you."

"Brian--"

"Stop saying my name, I know who you're talking to by now. I'm done talking to you, it's over." Brian knew that sooner or later Colton would be brought up in the session. If he didn't want to talk about Dave, or any of the others, what made Norton think he'd be okay talking about Colton? "I'm sick of cars trying to help me, alright?"

"But--"

"Tell your wife I said hello, have a good life."

Brian saw that he sounded just as crazy as everyone else that was coming to see Norton, so he decided to calm down. He drove away from Norton and down the row of cars in the lobby.

Almost at the exit, he was about to pass Monty when he stopped.

"Oh no…" Norton said to himself, he watched as Brian drove up to him.

Monty backed further into the wall, trying to avoid eye contact with him. He wanted no trouble from Brian, and tried to stop shaking.

With eyes like locked on targets, Brian questioned him. "Are you next?"

Monty wasn't sure if he should answer or not. He looked at the others for help, no one moved. Everyone in the lobby had heard and seen the commotion during Brian's session, no one spoke.

"Are you next?" Brian asked again, this time a little quicker.

Monty began to shake harder as he answered, "Yes?"

Brian smiled at him, "Well then you're next. You can go in to see him, it's your turn to talk to Norton."

Brian backed away from Monty and preceded to leave when he forgot something he wanted to say. "Oh, by the way," he started, all eyes were still on him, "Watch the door on the left, it'll fall any second now."


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER THREE**

Brian found himself being the one honking his horn at the slow ones in front of him. Without a second guess, they listened.

Driving down the road, he began to wonder where he was going in such a hurry. He couldn't see Sadie. As long as she was working to jobs in one day, for five days a week, he couldn't see her until ten o'clock when she was at the bar. The bar was Sadie's second job. So since Brian couldn't see her until then, he had to keep himself sane.

Then another delay hit him, he wasn't about to explain the situation to Sadie until he was safe in her house, where it was okay to talk about such things. That wouldn't happen until eleven o'clock tonight.

Suddenly, Brian wasn't eager to get home and talk to anyone. He knew Norton would call Dave and let him know what had happened. It was only a matter of time for him to explain his story.

Brian decided to take a few back roads getting home, to clear his mind of annoying thoughts.

Pulling up to the front door, he was greeted by Joanna and Dave. They were smiling and laughing, having a good conversation on the porch.

For a moment, Brian wondered if he had the wrong house. "Glad to know you two are getting along." Brian said, pulling up next to Dave.

"Yeah, me too." He replied.

Brian wanted to know badly if Dave knew about the situation. Judging by his happiness, that information was not possesed yet.

Sitting there quietly, Dave had a thought. "Hey," He said turning to Brian, "You're not supposed to be home yet."

Brian breathed deep, "Norton let me leave early. He thought I did good today…"

Dave could tell something wasn't right, then it hit him. "Wait a minute, no, no something went wrong. Didn't it?"

"Well--"

"Didn't it?" Dave asked again.

"Okay, not as bad as you think--"

"Brian! What did you do to Dr. Norton?"

"Nothing to him…" Brian's voice trailed off, not wanting to elaborate.

Dave left Joanna's side to pull up directly in front of Brian. "Tell me what you did. Don't make me call Dr. Norton tonight and find out what happened."

"No!" Brian said, "Don't do that."

It was then that Dave saw all the scratches and small dents on Brian's front fenders. "Then start talking!"

"Alright, I kind of--"

The group could hear the phone ringing from inside. The three looked at each other as the ringing continued.

"You better hope that's not Dr. Norton…" Dave said, going inside to answer it.

Dave had been on the phone a good twenty minutes before he came back out on the porch. Brian had wanted to leave, but Joanna kept him there.

Dave approached Brian with a look of embarrassment and shock, "You care to tell me your side of the story?" He said, cautious of Brian.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Norton drove into the bar that night looking for Brian. Coming through the front doors, he braked, letting his eyes adjust to the lighting. It wasn't extremely busy, but most of the tables were full.

Still sitting there, he scanned the room, he hadn't spotted Brian yet. No one seemed to acknowledge Norton's presence. It looked as if no one noticed him, and if they had, they didn't care about him.

Norton stood out from all of the other cars, it was clear that this wasn't his kind of place. Norton brought himself up in a higher class, these were everyday cars trying to get through life.

Norton found Brian, sitting at the bar. He was the only one there.

With his body sunken, and his tires pushed out, Brian stared at the wall behind the bar with a blank expression.

Gathering up strength, Norton breathed in deep. There was only two outcomes for this. Slowly, Norton approached Brian on his right side.

It didn't take long for him to get sidetracked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a beautiful car driving back and forth behind the bar. He was awestruck by her looks, and stopped halfway to Brian. In shock, he stared at her with a daydreaming gaze. He wanted to say something, but was afraid to mess up his words. He had never seen someone so gorgeous in his life, and found himself wanting to ask her on a date.

He shook himself to get ride of those thoughts. He had a wife, what was he doing? He fixed his eyes on Brian and continued on his way over to him.

"You," he said deeply, mostly trying to impress the bartender with the way he sounded.

The voice brought Brian out of his deep thought and stare. He turned to the car, angry, after pulling his tires back underneath him. He remembered that voice, and was actually annoyed by it. "What do you want, Norton? You don't belong here." He told him, trying to scare him off.

Norton looked at the rough and mean looking cars on the opposite side of the room, knowing very well that Brian was right. "I realize that..."

"Then what are you doing here? You want money for the doors? Because I'll gladly pay for them." Brian said a bit louder this time.

Norton looked at all of the other cars. They had stopped what they were doing, alerted by Brian's situation over at the bar. Norton began to think that this might have been a bad decision, he thought he might have started something up.

Brian was well respected, no one messed with him, especially at the bar. Most of the cars in there would gladly march into battle with him. None of them had a problem with Brian's unannounced authority and dominance. You could call them his followers, hoping to have such a social stance as him one day.

Norton looked back at Brian who had a scowl on. "I just wanted to talk to you about our last session--"

"Listen, what part did you not understand? I don't need to explain anything to you--"

"No, you listen," Norton said, getting braver. He didn't know why he had objected. Brian backed up, surprised that Norton had the courage to talk back to him. "Just hear me out."

"No, no way in hell!"

"Just once, please, that's all I'm asking." Norton noticed the beer sitting in front of Brian's left front tire. "C'mon, I know I can help you."

"With what?!" Brian exclaimed.

The music had stopped playing. Norton looked back at the other cars, they weren't happy with the situation either.

Norton brought his attention back to Brian, "Listen to yourself, look at what you're doing." He said, gesturing towards the beer.

Brian looked down at it and laughed, "You think that's my problem?"

"A _part_ of the problem." Norton said, correcting him.

"Oh, this is nothing!" He boomed, "Four years ago I binge drank for almost a year straight! I've got this under control here, and I've never been better..." Brian said, lowering his voice back down.

Norton knew that Brian had been at a higher, happier time in his life before. "Brian, you've got to see that you're at the point where you can't function normally without alcohol!"

Brian drove back farther from Norton in denial, that's when the bartender Norton had saw earlier joined the conversation. "Brian's doing better, why do you care?"

Norton had rendered himself helpless, she had a pretty voice on top of her looks. A sweet, relaxing voice that made him weak. Norton couldn't help but smile at her, she was even more stunning up close.

He laughed nervously and kept eye contact with her.

Brian waved his tire at Norton to get his attention, "Hey, what are you doing? You're not here to talk to Sadie." Brian pointed out.

That's when Norton stopped wishing Sadie was his. He felt crushed knowing that this was the car Brian called perfect. If Brian talked of her so highly in the first session, it was obvious that he wasn't about to let anyone get in between Sadie and him. Nor was anyone stupid enough to try...

To keep himself out of trouble with Brian, Norton thought he should stop making eyes at Sadie. "So, this is Sadie?" Norton asked Brian, afraid to talk to Sadie.

Brian drove closer to him with narrowing eyes, getting defensive and protective over her. "Yeah, that's her."

Norton sighed, he should have stuck to what he had come here to talk about before he got into a horrible argument over Sadie with Brian.

As far as Norton was concerned, Sadie and Brian were practically a couple anyways. And Brian was not the car you tried to interfere with.

Again, Norton glanced back over at everyone else in the room. They looked uneasy, jittery. Like at any one moment, he felt, they might be the ones to throw him out of here.

"This is my domain, Norton. You may not have came in here looking for trouble, but that's what you're about to get. And I won't be the ones to stop those boys from taking you out of here."

Norton widened his eyes, "Whoa, I'm not looking for trouble. I just want you to understand that."

"Tell that to them..." He said, referring to everyone else. "But seriously, why are you here?"

"I'm here to talk to you, man to man. It won't be like one of the sessions, I swear."

Brian considered this a second, realize that he wasn't going to win. Norton was determined to make Brian's life happy again.

It was then that they noticed two cars driving up to them. One looked as if he was trying to stop the other one from driving over.

Norton held his breath, hoping he wasn't creating too much of a disturbance.

"This guy bothering you, Brian?" The first car asked him. He had more then a few dents on him that made Norton a bit worried.

Brian smiled gently at his concern, "No. But thank you, Cal."

Cal smirked from Brian's approval of him. If Brian liked you or treated you nice, you moved up in the social status.

The second car nudged Cal, "See? I told you Brian had things covered..."

"I just wanted to make sure, Mikey." Cal told him, glaring at Norton.

Cal and Mikey drove back to their table, leaving Norton and Brian to continue their conversation.

"Fine, do you wanna talk about my life?" Brian asked.

Norton looked puzzled, "You're going to take me up on that offer?"

"Only so you'll leave me alone, Norton." Brian looked at Sadie, then back at Norton, "We'll go outside and talk, okay? But when Sadie's shift ends, our little chat is over."

"I appreciate this, I really do."

"Let's go before I change my mind."

Norton turned for the doors, glad that Brian finally decided to give this a chance. Norton waited at the doors while Brian chugged down the rest of his beer.

All Norton wanted to do was help Brian out, and this was his only shot. He couldn't afford to screw it up. Norton knew that Brian was tough for a reason, and this was his hardest client yet. Brian had an interesting past, and it was going to keep it locked up. Although it wouldn't do him any good. Norton got him one step closer to being happy.

He knew that Brian wanted someone to listen to him, he was just really stubborn about it, not knowing how to accept it.

Brian met up with Norton at the door, he had never met someone so determined to help him out.

"Just a recap here: we're talking to talk. Not trying to find a solution."

"Got it." Norton said, agreeing with him.

Right before they left, Brian turned back to face everyone, who were still watching them. "It's okay guys, he's my friend."

With that final statement, Brian winked at Sadie, and the two drove out of the bar. Just like that, the music continued, and everyone resumed their life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian and Norton parked just outside of the bar off to the side. A nearby streetlight was the only thing that gave off the two cars sitting there.

Brian exhaled sharply, the November air was crisp and chilly. There was silence between the two.

Brian was busy looking around at the distant traffic a couple of roads away from the bar. Norton studied Brian, he could tell he was troubled. "I don't get it, why is it so hard to talk about Dave, Hudson and Sadie?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

Brian refused to look Norton in the eye, "Some things are better left unsaid."

"Is it bad?"

"No, no not at all..."

"Then what's wrong?"

Brian stopped looking into the night and turned to face Norton. "Don't you know what I'm talking about? By now you must..."

"I'm confused." Norton said, although he knew about Brian's past. He wasn't completely oblivious of the situation.

Brian turned back away from him, "Colton." He muttered.

Norton had reached the point of no return, "Who?" He pressed, even though he had heard him clearly.

"Colton." Brian said louder, "This whole thing is about Colton."

Norton held back a smile of achievement, "I see." He said.

Brian began to get fidgety, "Okay, I can't--"

"C'mon, you've come this far. What can you lose?"

Brian thought a minute, "My sanity?"

Norton laughed lightly, "You can do this, alright? I know you're more confident than this."

Brian sighed, "Not as much as I seem."

The two talked about Colton during the whole conversation. Brian took his time explaining just how big a part Colton had in his life.

"So, you don't like talking about the others because somehow they have a connection with Colton?"

"Right, except Sadie. She doesn't play a part in Colton's story, I just love her more than anything in the world."

The sound of Sadie's name made Norton come to life. "Sadie? Where?" He asked, looking around.

Brian gave him a strange look, "What are you doing?"

Norton settled back down, afraid that Brian was about to put him in his place. "Oh, sorry. I know she's yours... sorry."

Brian laughed, "She's not mine, relax..." He said, looking away.

Norton was curious. A new question formed in his mind, "Then why did you threaten me back inside the bar?"

"Norton, you've got yourself a wife. I wasn't about to let you screw up your marriage."

Norton saw that Brian may portray himself as mean, but was actually really considerate of others. "I know she tempting," Brian continued, "But I'm not the one who stops her from dating. She can do what ever she wants. We're just best friends, we talk all the time. Her and I know everything about each other."

"Even that you love her?"

Brian was caught off guard, "Everything except _that_."

"Ever thought about saving time and telling her?"

"It's more difficult than it seems."

"So would you be upset if she went out with someone while she was still best friends with you?"

"If she's happy, I'm happy..." Brian said, not giving a straight answer. He knew that Sadie was never really completely happy with her life after everything that had gone on. Sadie considered herself a failure, and it was up to Brian to make her feel important.

"Would you?" Norton asked again.

"Yes, I'd be mortified," Brian blurted out. "I know we'll always be best friends, but I don't think I'd be able to watch her go out with someone else." He said swallowing hard.

"Ever thought that she might love you back?"

Brian had never really considered that possibility, "Honestly, no." If Sadie did love him, she was extremely good at hiding it.

"Has she seen anyone in the time period she's been around you?"

"No..." Brian said, realizing something.

"Have you been the one scaring everyone off?"

Brian laughed again, "Actually, she does that herself!"

Norton joined Brian with that quick laugh, "Sounds like you two have more than matching personalities."

"We do, it's scary perfect. When we're together, it's as if we're the only two cars there. Everything else disappears and all I see is her--"

Just then, the bar's front doors opened, Sadie drove out. She pulled up in front of the two.

"Shift over already?" Brian asked.

"Am I interrupting anything too important?"

"No, no we can finish this another night. Right?" Brian asked, looking at Norton.

Norton agreed silently, he was a bit discouraged that their conversation had been cut off. Brian finally started talking to someone again.

Norton sat there and smiled at Sadie, afraid to say something embarrassing.

Sadie turned her full attention to Norton, "Will you be joining us?"

"Oh no I couldn't." Norton answered quickly.

Brian turned to Norton as well, "You sure? It's okay with us if you'd like to come over." He told him with sincerity.

"I really shouldn't. It's getting late, and Carol's most likely worried about me." He chuckled.

"Well, I guess that means I should probably start driving Sadie home." Brian said, smiling at her.

She smiled back, "Alright."

"Goodnight Brian, Sadie."

Norton turned to leave when Brian called out to him. "Hey, tomorrow night, stop by here again. I'll buy you a drink."

Norton was hesitant, he had been trying to get Brian to stop drinking. Wouldn't he be a hypocrite for drinking along with him?

Never the less, it was good to know that Brian considered him a friend, and accepted the invitation. "Sounds good to me."

The two watched Norton drive off into the darkness, then they went on their way to Sadie's apartment. Norton realized that Brian needed someone like Sadie, and he hoped that Sadie loved Brian as much as he loved her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian and Sadie were parked in her apartment that night, enjoying a midnight drink. There was some silence in the room as each of them were questioning their own thoughts. Brian was thinking about his conversation with Norton, and what he had told him about Sadie.

Brian looked up from his drink in front of him and sighed at Sadie. "Are you glad we're best friends?"

Sadie had a questionable look on her face, "Of course Brian. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me." Brian looked away from her eyes and back down at his drink, now she was concerned, "Brian, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just making sure is all," He said, swishing around what was left in his glass.

Sadie was still worried. "Hey," She said inching forward to get his attention. "I couldn't ask for a better friend, okay? Brian, you're the greatest, and no one will ever replace you."

It was then that he thought he was wasting his time. She had said that statement so truly, that there was no way she'd see him as more than a friend. He had been searching for some sign, some hint, some trace that she might sound troubled, but nothing came.

He looked up at the clock, "I better go, it's getting late."

He headed for the door and started to leave when Sadie called out to him, "I'll see you tomorrow night?" Hope in her voice.

Without turning back, he replied. "Like always."


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Thursday night, Norton drove into the bar and saw what he had seen last night. Brian was the only one at the bar, and Sadie was doing her usual cleaning around it. This time, Brian seemed to be just a little happier, and had a small smile on from what he could see.

He looked at everyone else on the other side of the bar. This time, they had noticed him come in, and smiled.

Norton smiled back, had he been accepted here already? Although Norton was still the odd man out, he had no problem moving around the place this time, and quickly glided over to where Brian sat.

Brian turned to face Norton and greet him, "Hey! Glad you showed up."

"Well, thanks for inviting me."

"Any time, any time."

Norton and Brian faced the bar and Sadie drove to them. "What'll it be Norton?"

Norton looked at Brian, "I don't know what there is... I don't drink very often."

Brian slammed one of his tires down, "That's alright," he said, then looked at Sadie. "Give him something mild, please."

"Of course..." She said.

While Sadie got Norton's drink, Brian finished off his that he was already given. "So, how's Carol?"

"She's doing good, she almost wouldn't let me come here tonight. She was afraid I'd pick up drinking as a habit if I did."

Brian smiled, "You are the last car I'd ever expect to become an alcoholic. I may have only known you for a couple of days, but I seem to know you better."

Norton smiled too, and took that as a compliment.

Sadie arrived with Norton's drink and sat there. Brian and Sadie waited for him to try it. When he did, he wasn't sure what to say. "So?" Brian asked him, "What do you think?"

Norton looked at the two, "Interesting... What's it called?"

Brian looked at Sadie, she did the same. "I don't know, it's something foreign. We just got it last week." She explained.

"Here, let me pay you for--"

Norton was about to give Sadie money for it, but Brian stopped him. "I invited you, so I pay. Would you like another drink?"

"Sure, sure."

Brian, Norton and Sadie talked amongst themselves for a long time. "I just remember something," Sadie said, perking up. "There's a bottle in the back room that just arrived here. Let me go see if it's still there. Excuse me one moment..."

Sadie drove off to the back room at the end of the building behind the bar strip.

Just as Sadie disappeared, the front doors to the bar swung open violently. The sound of it made Brian and Norton jump slightly, they turned to see what car was coming in.

"Oh no," Brian said with hatred. "It's Derek." Brian turned to Norton, "Quick, meet up with Sadie and keep her from coming out here."

"Why?"

"Just do it, hurry!"

While Brian got ready to confront Derek, Norton found the doorway where Sadie had drove into, and parked himself across it to where he could watch the drama unfold.

The live music stopped playing, and the cars on the other side of the room gathered behind Brian in support. Norton couldn't see Brian anymore, but he could hear his remarks.

Derek's face was twisted with fury as Brian argued with him, _that_ he _could_ see.

"Where's Sadie?" Derek snapped, "I'm not here to talk to you!"

"She doesn't work here anymore, alright?"

"Oh, is that so?" He said in disbelief.

"Yeah, don't you think there'd be more cars at the bar strip if she was still here?" Brian said, referring to Sadie's state of attractiveness.

Norton agreed in his thoughts, what Brian had said was true. Norton asked himself a question while he zoned the argument out. Why wasn't there more cars there if she was really pretty? Then it hit him, no one was brave enough to have a conversation with her. Even to talk to her, they couldn't handle it.

Norton knew that the answer he had come up with was true as well, because he knew that he, himself wouldn't be able to talk to Sadie without difficulty.

His attention was turned towards movement on his left side, Sadie was approaching him. "What's going on? Why are you blocking the doorway?"

"I don't know, actually. Brian told me to. Someone named Derek is here looking for you"

Sadie gasped, "Are you serious?"

"I don't lie..." He said plainly, "But why? What's wrong?"

Sadie shook herself, "Never mind that. Get in here, quick. You look suspicious sitting there."

As Norton drove inside, Sadie made sure that no one saw her shut the door behind him.

The room was full of supplies and extra bottles.

Looking around the room, he realized where he was, alone with Sadie. Fear and nervousness rose inside of him at the thought that he might accidentally say something stupid and make an idiot of himself.

He backed himself in to the nearest corner to avoid conversation with Sadie. He watched her pace around, back and forth. The room began to feel like it was closing in as he watched her worry and panic, and anxiously waited for the argument to end.

A minute went by, and Norton's psychology instincts started to kick in, "What's wrong, what's this all about?" Norton had began to wonder about the situation, and narrowed it down to just Sadie and Derek.

Sadie stopped driving around and drove up to Norton. He grew tense and wished he hadn't asked. "He's my ex boyfriend, and a very awful car. I'd rather leave it at that..."

Sadie drove away and Norton sighed in relief, "Is he bothering you?"

"Ever since he found out where I had gone when I left, he's been... aggressive. Jealous, you might say."

There was a loud knock on the door, "Bartender, we need you." The voice said harshly.

The voice was Brian's, the two knew that. And they could tell Brian was thoroughly pissed.

"Bartender! We need you out here, now!" Brian said again.

Sadie smiled, she knew what Brian was doing. She turned to Norton, "Go out there and pretend to be the bartender. Derek still hasn't seen me, and you could pass as one."

"Are you insane? I can't--"

"Please?" She asked with innocent eyes.

Norton couldn't ignore that look, and opened the door to drive out after making sure Sadie was out of the view range.

He was met by Brian's scowl, but that scowl was softened when he saw that Norton had figured out the plan.

Norton took his place behind the bar strip and faced Derek. All of the other cars in the bar had formed a group behind him, waiting to see how this would go. Everyone knew what the plan was through already made actions, and if someone hadn't caught on before, they knew it now.

Brian pulled up behind the crowd, away from everyone else. There were subtle smiles on some of the cars' faces as they waited for Norton to speak.

"What'll it be?" He asked Derek.

Derek looked Norton up and down, "You're not from around here, are you?" He asked, noticing his fancy trimming and polished exterior.

Norton looked very sophisticated amongst everyone else, another reason why he didn't fit in here. Derek was right, Norton wasn't from around here, and resided in a rich neighborhood just outside of town.

Norton tried to swallow quietly, he was intimidated by Derek's glare. "What'll it be?" He asked again.

Derek smirked, "What's your list on Russia?"

Norton knew nothing about drinking, or the names of brands. He especially didn't know the slang.

Norton was about to pretend to know what he was doing when a car drove out of an office near the music stand. Everyone turned their attention to the approaching car.

That car happened to be the owner of the bar. "What's going on here?" He bellowed. The old timer had seen better days, and had a typical southern accent. Cars parted the way to let him through as he drove up to Brian. "What's all this commotion about? Care to explain?"

Brian knew that Mr. Sauter wasn't blaming him for this abnormal scene, he was just consulting him first. "I'll tell you what's going on. That prick Derek came back here looking for Sadie. I kept telling him that she left two weeks ago for Georgia, but he still insists on making things difficult."

Sauter looked at Norton who was still parked behind the bar strip.

While Derek wasn't looking at him, he gave Sauter a nervous, sheepish smile. Norton certainly didn't want any trouble with the owner, even though Brian and him talked like they've been friends for a long time.

It didn't take long for Sauter to analyze the situation to figure out Brian's creative, quick thinking on how to save Sadie.

More cars parted the way as Sauter drove up to Derek. "So, you're the car who disturbed the peace at my bar, huh?"

Derek tried to keep his angry, serious tone, but couldn't. "I wasn't doing anything wrong until Brian decided to interfere--"

"Listen, son, I suggest you leave before I call the cops. And no one in here likes cops. I have a feeling that you don't either, do you Derek?"

Derek looked at Sauter carefully as he reflected on all his arrest records. He didn't need any more trouble with authority.

Norton, who had been listening to the conversation, wanted the cops here. He loved the law, and would be very happy to see Derek taken away. This guy was vicious.

Derek turned to leave when he drove up to Brian, who had respected Sauter's confrontation with Derek, and stayed out of his argument. But now that Derek had came up to him, he felt obliged to speak back to him. "If I find out that Sadie's still here, and she's still in town, I'm coming for her. You got that?"

Norton, for the first time in a long time, felt anger brewing inside him. He wasn't taking kindly to the fact that Derek thought he owned Sadie.

"Derek," Brian said to him. "You came here looking for trouble, and I've got plenty of proof that you did. You're intentions were bad enough, but no one comes here with that kind of attitude. You got _that_?"

Derek left before another argument arose.

When everyone thought that Derek was gone for good, they resumed their normal routine.

As everyone went back to their tables and places, Norton left the bar strip and headed for Brian and Sauter, who were still sitting there discussing the situation. "I'm sorry about that, I took Sadie's place at the bar so that she--"

Brian raised a tire to stop him, "It's okay, I was hoping that you'd take up the bartender role. I know you were confused up there, but you did a good job."

Sauter turned to Brian, "How'd you come up with a plan so quick?"

"Derek had noticed that there wasn't a bartender, and asked where he was. I told him that I'd go get him, and on my way over to the supply room, I remembered that Norton was in there. I just hoped that Norton would catch on."

Sauter approved both men, and went to tell Sadie that it was okay to come out. After he did, he went back to his office.

Watching Sadie drive up the bar strip, Brian turned to Norton. "Now, would you like another drink?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Driving back to the bar strip, the two seemed to notice that Sadie was restless. "Sadie, are you alright?" Norton asked as they pulled up to her.

"No," She replied, "I about lost my job!"

Norton looked at Brian for some sort of clue, then turned to Sadie. "How? You didn't do anything wrong."

Sadie stopped what she was doing and quickly turned around, "I don't expect you to understand. Besides, you've only known me for two days… This doesn't concern you anyhow."

Norton's face held a look of shock, he didn't want her to be angry with him. "I was just curious--"

"Well too bad."

"Sorry--"

"I'm not looking for apologies, Norton. It's just Brian and I already talked about this. Let's leave it at that."

Brian and Norton sat there in silence as Sadie gave them another round. Brian was fine with the fact that Sadie was giving Norton his own dose of psychology. He merrily drank as Norton was confused.

He sat there, sulking, thinking that he wasn't getting far in his friendship with her. He didn't touch his drink.

Sadie sighed, she felt a little bad for snapping at Norton. "I didn't mean to be so straightforward, but I'm not about to retell my life's story to someone who I just met. I already did that with Brian, but that's different. Brian's an exception…"

Sadie has Norton's full attention, he was almost there. "He's an exception because he's your best friend?"

Sadie took a moment to answer, she sighed before she did. "Yeah, yeah because he's my best friend."

Brian and Norton looked at each other while Sadie drove around to serve another customer at the other end of the bar strip, they both picked up on the vibe she gave off when saying that. There was definitely more to that story than Brian thought. He knew everything there was to know about Sadie, but apparently something was left out.

As Sadie drove back to the two, Norton felt like pulling off a few psychology tricks he had learned over the years, but he had a feeling that she was smarter than those. Sadie was just as good at minds games as any other car, and it wouldn't take long to shoot back some of her own contradicting statements at him.

He swallowed his drink as she passed him to face Brian. "My shift just ended, you ready to go?"

Brian looked at Norton, "It's up to you, you wanna go home to Carol?"

Norton sighed, he felt that in some way or another, that he might have hurt his friendship with both cars. "You invited me, I won't be the one to hold you up."


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Chuck, Sadie's replacement after her shift was done, just arrived as the three were heading towards the exit.

Norton stopped. "Ladies first," He said, pulling off to the side.

She stopped also and looked at him. "That kind of treatment isn't necessary." She then proceeded to go through the double doors.

Norton sighed as Brian pulled up in front of him. "I can't win, can I Brian?"

"Don't worry about it." He told Norton.

The two continued outside to meet up with Sadie. To their surprise, she was trying to get back into the bar.

"What's wrong?" Brian asked, cutting her off. He caught her fender with a tire and pulled her close. "Sweetie, what's wrong? He asked again.

She backed up a little to face him. "What if Derek's still here? What if he's waiting for one of us to leave?"

Brian looked at Norton as Sadie pulled up next to him. They hadn't thought about that one.

"Norton, go look around the place just to make sure."

He did what he was asked of.

Leaving the two behind, under the streetlight, Norton started to drive around the back of the bar. It was creepy, down right creepy, and Norton didn't feel safe at all. The darkness was near pitch black. The only thing that made Norton realize that he didn't have his eyes closed, was the small highway in front of him.

He sat there in silence, listening for any sign that he wasn't alone out here.

When Norton was satisfied that he was, he continued on his way back to Brian and Sadie.

"Anything?" Brian asked as Norton pulled up in front of him.

"No," He started. "If Derek was still around, he's not here."

Brian sighed in relief as he felt Sadie nuzzle his side. Her eyes were closed and she leaned on Brian more every time she felt worried. He felt that this was the only time she'd do such a precious thing. He never felt closer to Sadie than he did now, and he didn't want this moment to end.

Brian, right now, was protecting her from the only thing she was scared of. Derek had taken a strong individual, and made her weak. Even after losing everything she had, Sadie remained bullet proof. But the day she met Derek, he began to take that all away from her and made her feel like nothing.

Norton felt bad for both cars. More for Brian, this was hurting him just as much.

To see the only thing he loved more than anything in the world back down in fear was down right sad. Brian didn't know what to say to her.

He looked up at Norton for help. The only thing he could do was shrug.

Brian sighed again. "Norton, I don't ask many cars for help, but could you drive Sadie home with me? It'd be much appreciated."

Carol's opinion on this situation didn't even cross Norton's mind. "Yes, yes of course."

Brian took a tire under Sadie's grill as she opened her eyes. "You ready to go home?"

She silently agreed, and the three began to leave the bar's lot. Brian led the way and Sadie tagged along.

Norton took one last look at his surroundings before following them.

Peaceful...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Norton constantly checked his mirrors for a hint that someone might be following them. Everything seemed to be perfectly normal at the moment. The cars around them were just trying to get to where they wanted to be. No one appeared to be out of place. It was life.

A pair of distant headlights behind Norton briefly caught his attention. But after a mile, those headlights turned into a neighborhood beside them on the main road.

He sighed, it had made him nervous.

Finally, the three pulled into a driveway. The lights to Sadie's rented house weren't on.

While she drove up to the front door to turn them on, Brian faced Norton. "Thanks, she's glad that you came along."

"No problem, any time."

"Would you like to come in, Norton?" He asked.

"I really should get going. Carol's probably out looking for me."

Brian and Norton turned to see Sadie sitting patiently on her porch. There wasn't much more to say about the current situation, so they decided to leave it at that.

Norton was about to head towards the street when his name was called.

"Norton?" Brian asked.

He turned back, "Yeah?"

"Thanks." Brian stated simply.

"Oh, for driving Sadie home? Don't mention it--"

"No,_ I'm _saying thank you."

Norton didn't really know what Brian meant by that. "For what?"

"Everything."

Brian drove off to catch up with Sadie who was now heading inside.

Norton watched as Brian closed the door behind him. The living room lamp inside clicked on, and he could see the two cars talking inside.

He sighed, he had never been involved with something so deep before. He made a vow not to get tangled up with his clients' lives outside of his job, but he should have known that his vow wouldn't make it.

He turned around to look at the neighborhood Sadie resided in.

It was nice, and quiet. The place was a typical structure of what you'd envision when you thought of security.

But the feeling that he was being watched nagged at Norton, and suddenly he didn't feel good about this outcome.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No! You never have time for anything anymore!" Joanna yelled.

Dave scoffed, "I'm sorry that my job needs me!"

"I think your friends and I are more important!"

"Oh, so you want me to quit my job at the company so that you guys don't have a roof to live under? I can't buy everyone things without my job!"

"I never wanted what you've given me so far, Dave. All you do is buy me stuff hoping that it'll replace the time you don't get to be around the house!"

Dave was a little hurt by that statement. Yeah, he _was_ buying her nice things hoping to keep her around. "Honey, I'm sorry. But you've gotta try to understand--"

"I'm done trying to understand! You think it's okay to do what you do!"

"Baby, I love you. I feel bad when I'm not here with you. But the company _needs_ me right now!"

Joanna rolled her eyes, "Company this, company that! When are you ever going to realize that you're hurting everyone else, not just me?"

Dave stopped himself before he said his next remark. He was here for everyone else, everyone but Joanna. His own wife, his love. "I'm sorry, it's just--"

"No excuses this time, Dave. It's over."

"Darling, please don't say that! What'll it take to make it up to you?" He loved her more than anything, losing her would bring him down to nothing.

Joanna felt bad about saying that to him. Her love for him was dwindling each day, with each day he wasn't around. She loved him in the beginning, but now it was a question that she kept to herself. Joanna may have been tough and a bit rude at times, but Dave's pleas were the only thing that stopped her.

"I don't know anymore." She told him, not looking him in the eye.

Dave was holding her back in life, and she wanted more from it. There was so much that she was missing, and Dave made it worse each time he begged her to stay. She felt sorry for him, that was the only reason she hadn't left him yet. If she had known this was how it was going to end up, she wouldn't have said yes to his proposal.

"Joanna," Dave started as he drove up to her, "I don't want to lose you. I know it's difficult right now, but let me work this out. Okay?"

She knew that if he looked into his eyes, she would give in again. She tried not to, but she accidentally did.

"Fine..." She told him.

Dave sighed in relief and gave her a kiss. "I'll make things better, I promise."

Joanna pulled away from him, "You've said that too many times..."

He didn't argue with her on that one. Starting over with Joanna had been a continuous problem since he had struck it rich at the end of 1948. Dave didn't intend on becoming wealthy, but it certainly didn't seem like such a bad idea.

I guess, he thought, money really is the route to all evil.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian drove into the house just as their argument had faded away.

Oblivious to the meltdown moments ago, he drove past Dave who was sitting in the living room reading a book without a second glance.

He was about to go into his room when from across the hall to his door, he heard someone crying.

Curious, he turned and looked into the room. The door had not been shut all the way, and he could see Joanna sitting parked in the corner trying to sob silently.

Brian sighed and pushed the door open. Whenever Joanna cried, it was because of the marriage situation. "Jo, you alright?"

She was startled, she looked up quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine Brian..."

He wasn't convinced.

He drove inside Dave's room towards Joanna. "What's wrong?"

Joanna looked out the window and into the night's sky. It was a clear night, the stars lit up the backyard and revealed the outside world to her. The moon's beams overpowered the lamp inside the room and lit across her hood.

"It's Dave." She said.

Brian drove up to her side to look out the window with her. "About your marriage?"

She nodded, she was sick of talking.

"I know you want the divorce, Jo. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you to rethink it all, because that wouldn't be right. I'm going to tell you to look at it through his point of view."

Brian had Joanna's full attention.

"Jo, he loves you more than anything. I know that's the only thing holding you back. But sometimes, you need to do what's right for you."

She nodded again.

"If you stay, you'll be hurt. If you go, he'll be hurt. It's a difficult situation, and I'm sorry for that."

"He makes everything so complicated..." She whispered.

"I know, I know. Have you tried talking to him again?"

"I did, earlier. But we ended up fighting..."

Brian sighed and turned away from the window to circle the room. He didn't want to see any of his friends hurt, but one of them was bound to be let down soon.

He turned back and looked at Joanna while she continued to look out the window. "Got any ideas?"

"No... you?" She asked.

"I've been thinking about this as long as you have. I've got nothing."

She sniffled before turning to him. "I'm sorry that you got drug into this. I'm sorry--"

"Joanna, don't be sorry. You're my best friend, and so is Dave. Along with Sadie, Hudson, James and Mason. Laura's on her way, too. But the point is, I care too much to just let this play out before me. Things will get better."

Joanna scoffed. "Yeah, let's hope."

Brian laughed slightly. "In some odd way, this reminds me of Colton."

Joanna was brought out of her fit of misery.

Brian, talking about Colton?

"How so?" She asked.

"When Colton died, everything fell apart."

"So what's that got to do with this situation?"

"Because I took him up on that race, I ended someone's life. Someone who never complained, never gave up. I was the one to change all that. And not only ruin his future, but messed up everyone else's lives."

She knew that was true, but Joanna was still confused. "Where are you going with this?"

"I never thought it could end... just like that. How could something like life be taken away so suddenly? Especially so young... But when something like that happens, nothing feels the same."

"That's death, this is life we're talking about." Joanna told him, her sarcasm coming back.

"I know that's different. But the point is, before you make your decision, think about what you have here. Would you miss what you have now if it was gone? What if tomorrow everything you had was taken away? No chance to say goodbye, would you regret anything?"

Joanna sat there in silence, he had a point.

"I'm just saying, think on it a little deeper before you make your final decision."

With that, Brian drove out of Dave and Joanna's room and closed the door behind him. He had said all he wanted to.

Joanna still sat there in front of the window. A little less confused, but angry at the most part.

The more she thought about it, she figured that she might not have loved Dave at all. She wished that conclusion wasn't real, but now it was.

Suddenly, cheating didn't seem like such a bad idea.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where the hell were you?! Do you know what time it is?" Carol snapped.

Norton felt like he had ran into a brick wall entering the door to his house. He hadn't even entered all the way when Carol appeared in front of him.

"Yes, I know what time it is. I'm sorry--"

"Then what took you so long?!"

"Honey, relax--"

"I'm not going to relax, tell me where you were!"

Norton sighed, he wasn't going to hear the end of this until he told her the truth. "I had to drive someone home from the bar."

Carol laughed, "I knew you'd find drunkard buddies. Now you've gotta drive them home, huh?"

"It's not like that, she wasn't drunk."

"She?"

Norton's eyes widened, now he had done it.

She'll kill me, he thought, you better tell her what happened.

"I had to drive her home because of the situation at the bar."

Carol sat back in disbelief. "You expect me to believe that?"

"If you trust me, yeah you will."

She didn't like his tone of voice. But for the first time, she didn't have an answer to that reply.

"Carol, it's not what you think. I'm not seeing her."

"I knew letting you hang out at the bar was going to be trouble. It was only a matter of time before they sucked you in."

Norton sighed, "They aren't bad cars. Not everyone can be perfect like you."

"Excuse me?"

Norton wanted to laugh at the stupidity of the situation. No matter what he could say, he would only be digging his grave more. "That was a compliment, Carol."

She scoffed again. "They are changing you, aren't they?"

He smiled. "What have I done wrong? What have I ever done to make you not trust me?"

There was a long silence as Carol tried to make up an answer.

"Exactly. Now can we just go to bed and talk about this later?"

Resentfully, she drove down the hall. Norton followed her, happy that she didn't get the cops involved to search for him.

Backing up against the wall next to Carol, Norton clicked off the lamp.

Through the darkness of the room, Carol spoke.

"Bradley?"

Norton sighed, "Why you gotta call me that?"

"Fine," She said, remembering that he didn't like that. "Brad?"

"Yes?"

"You smell like Russian Vodka."

"How would you know the difference between them?" He asked.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER SIX**

Joanna awoke the next morning feeling horrible from the night before.

Dave had finally came into their room to go to sleep. He approached her like nothing had happened and gently kissed her before reversing and parking next to his wife. That bothered her, he always acted like everything was fine and going to be fine after their fights. She not only leaned on him that night as they slept to assure Dave that she was okay, but to set up the illusion that she still loved him.

Joanna had heard Dave start up his engine to begin his speedy process of getting ready for work.

She thought about calling out his name as he started driving towards their bedroom's door, but instead kept pretending that she was asleep.

As she sat there in the cold, lonely room there thinking about today, she could hear Dave wandering around in the living room.

Joanna gave a soft whine. A scared whine because she still felt compelled to go out there and talk to him.

She too, started up her engine and quickly drove into the living room. Only to find that Dave was on his way out of the door. The morning newspaper was tucked under his fender. Which was useless, Joanna always thought, because he could get a dozen copies of it at the company's lobby. She never understood why he just didn't leave it for everyone else in the house to read later on.

"Dave?" She asked.

Dave turned around to look at her. "What are you doing up? You should be in bed, it's really early." He then chuckled softly. "Not that you need beauty sleep, you're always pretty."

Joanna forced a smile, "I just... I just wanted to wish you a good day at work."

Dave was a little confused. Joanna hadn't said such a thing since they first got married at the end of 1948, it was unusual. "Well, thanks sweetheart."

But the next thing Joanna did really surprised him. She slowly drove up to him and gave him a long kiss.

Joanna wasn't doing this to make his day, she was doing it to make sure that she didn't have any feelings left for Dave. As expected, there was nothing. No magic at all, she couldn't feel anything for him. It was depressing for her, and she didn't know if she could accept that. She couldn't believe that she didn't even _like_ the guy. Joanna felt ashamed, wasted, like all of this was for nothing. There just wasn't any magic left.

She pulled away from him with a smile in an attempt to suppress the feeling of tears.

Lucky for her, Dave didn't notice how much pain was in her eyes. He was too busy trying to comprehend how special that felt. "What was that for?" He asked with a smile.

"A goodbye kiss, I hope your day goes great." She told him. Those tears still begging for her to break down right in front of him, but she would have none of that. After years of being labeled as tough, she wasn't about to let that go now.

"Well," Dave said, clearing his throat, "I'll see you after work?"

"Of course..."

Dave grinned. "Okay then, I'll see you later."

He repositioned the newspaper and proceeded out the door, closing it behind him.

Joanna sighed, shaking slightly at the situation. Why did it have to end like this? She had tried, and tried again, but she knew it was over.

The tears finally got to her.

Joanna started to sob heavily giving into her own sorrow when she heard another engine start up. She quickly gathered herself and put on a brave face. She was blinking away the tears when James popped up in the hallway.

"Joanna, are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She told him, again forcing another smile.

His face was filled with disgust at her answer. "Don't give me that, I know you better. You're not okay, so what's going on?"

Joanna glared at him for being so pushy. She knew she didn't have to tell him anything, but she made it simple. "Just Dave and I having some trouble again." Now it was her turn to ask a question. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I have a date today, thank you very much. I'll be meeting her at the beach pretty soon." He smirked at his little accomplishment. With Brian around the group all the time, none of the others stood a chance at having the girls look at them for a relationship. It was always Brian...

"Well, good luck on that date." She said.

James's concern came back. "You gonna be okay?"

This time, Joanna did smile, but it was a somewhat sly smile. A smile that she never thought she'd use again. "I promise."

Finally, James sighed and put himself in reverse. "Just making sure..."

Joanna listened to him disappear back into his room and shut the door. The silence returning, depression finding it's way to her again. Without someone there around her, she was scared.

But in the gloom of the morning, she remembered something.

She quickly returned to her room to look for something. A number that she had always kept...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dave wasn't really doing anything in his office. He was mainly just leafing through some old paper work as he wandered around the room. He couldn't get Joanna off his mind, this morning ran though his mind. It was still a mystery to him why she was acting so different. But hey, he wasn't about to complain.

He smiled and turned on his radio. A couple of seconds later he found a station he liked, and stuck to it. The latest Doo Wop was playing, and he started to hum softly along with it as he moved to another file cabinet on the other side of his office.

Dave was too lost in thought to hear the approach of an engine behind him. The silver car with black fenders braked to a stop in Dave's office doorway. He waited for the maroon car to turn around, but when he didn't, he called his name.

"Dave?"

There was no answer.

"Dave..." He called again.

The silver car sighed as he heard him humming. "Damn car's gotta have his radio on..." Without moving from where he sat, the car picked up a book from the shelf next to him and chucked it at Dave.

Dave lashed around at the sudden surprise. "Mr. Williams! I didn't know you were there! I'm so sorry that--"

Williams cut Dave off. "No need for an apology. I just came here to talk to you..." He stated, moving into Dave's office without asking.

Dave didn't question that. In fact, no one questioned the boss. Williams was the owner of the company, and he was no one's fool.

Dave moved back behind his desk as Williams parked in front of him. "What can I do for you, Mr. Williams?" It was unusual for the boss to appear anywhere else but his huge office on the top floor. The silver car either brought good news, or bad news with him.

Williams sank down on his tires to get comfortable. "Please, call me Michael..." He told him.

Now Dave could relax. Williams was letting him call him by his first name, it was certainly good news. "Okay, Michael."

Williams smiled. "You have any idea why I'm here?"

For a moment, Dave thought about that. "No, why?"

"Any guess at all?" Williams pressured.

"Did the stock market go back up again?"

"Actually, that too. But I came here to tell you that you're getting promoted."

Well that's great, Dave thought, the one day you were slacking off he decides to promote you!

He had just gotten promoted in 1951 to a better position, and now again in 1953. He had been the messenger boy most of the time after his 1951 promotion. That promotion had given him control of several smaller companies that were run by the main company; the one that Williams owned. It was the reason why Dave sponsored Doc, he was sent out to find someone. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Williams assured him.

But now Dave was concerned, what position could he possibly get now? He was barely Williams's apprentice. "What job do I get?"

Williams smiled slowly. "The company's yours."

Dave's eyes widened in shock. "Why... that's incredible. When do I start?" He asked.

"Today, son. Don't worry about your things, I'll have someone get them for you..."

Dave let a huge smile come across his grill. His co-workers weren't going to be happy hearing this news. But he ignored the scowls as he rolled by them with Williams leading the way back to his office on the top floor. He had some papers to sign, papers that gave him one hundred percent legal ownership of the company.

Dave felt great, this was one of the best days of his life. But the fact that Joanna might not be happy with the news that he got an even more important job at the company nagged at him. He hoped that it didn't come down to who he had to choose; the company, or her.

He shrugged it off as he signed the papers Williams gave to him.

Looking up from them, Dave noticed that most of the things in his office were gone. "Michael, where are all your things?"

Williams smiled as he continued packing up his desk. "I'm retiring today, Dave. And I had to give the company to someone I trusted, to someone I was proud of. To someone I could count on. Most of all to someone that the company needs, and this company needs _you_. I know you'll make it great, better than it's ever been. Don't let me down."

"Don't you worry, Michael, this company is safe with me. I won't disappoint you. You can depend on me."

Williams looked up from the box he was placing things in. "Perfect."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fridays were always boring, at least that was what Brian thought. Now that racing season was over, there was nothing to do but sit back and relax until February. It always seemed like an eternity whenever Brian was waiting for something. Waiting for Colton's news about his death had been what triggered such a feeling. Brian had always hated waiting, it just wasn't something he could do.

He idly wandered around the South Carolina Racing Headquarters looking for something to keep his attention. Noon was always the time of day when Piston Cup racers within certain miles from this location flocked here to practice in the off-season.

Normally, Brian would always keep an eye on next year's competition, but today he was distracted. Last night had been on his mind all day so far, and he couldn't shake the thoughts of Sadie's fear and Joanna's frustration out of his mind. No matter what Brian did, he was always in the middle of some trouble.

Brian smirked once he realized that life would be quite boring without stuff like this going on. In fact, he kind of enjoyed it at times, but not now. Cars' lives were being tested far past normal mental abuse. Sadie's strain on her life was getting to be a bit much for her, and Joanna was just worn out.

Joanna had basically burned out. Not only did she burn out, but smoked her tires to hell trying to get out of all of this, broke the fan belt, let the radiator go bad, ruined the starter, clogged the fuel line, blew the transmission, and she's still leaking oil from her fight to make her relationship with Dave work, so to speak.

And that's what made Brian mad, the fact that Joanna was sitting there in ruins from this problem. Her life was dull, and lonely. Why Dave couldn't set her free, he didn't know, but maybe it was the fact that Dave was completely oblivious. Then again, Brian knew that wasn't true. There were a lot of things Joanna had and still says to Dave that should have given him some sort of hint to let things go. That all depends on whether or not he took the time to actually think on the situation, instead of just moving on past everything and towards the next day.

Brian was still driving around the campus when a construction site caught his attention. It was the new track that Harris wanted built, the same one he consulted Brian about on Monday. The track was going to be asphalt. Why it was going to be, Brian didn't know why. This part of South Carolina was known for the dirt tracks, especially the beach ones. Which is a good thing, because the South Carolina Racing Headquarters sat on the edge of a ten mile stretch of beach. Of course, Harris didn't own all that land, but maybe one day he would. Brian was beginning to think that the campus was about to be even more rebuilt and expanded.

Brian shrugged that off, no sense in getting worked up in deep thought with that one.

He pulled up in front of the construction site to watch the cars at work. They were laying down the pattern rails and setting them up to match the blueprints. The asphalt wasn't going to be as big as the main beach track like the one they use for the Piston Cup, but it was going to be something special. They weren't building an asphalt track for nothing. It was going to be used to keep the Piston Cup racers up to date and well adjusted to the other forms of tracks they raced on.

It really wasn't a big deal. But still, this was South Carolina...

Brian turned off his engine and studied the workers as the moved about that particular part of the compound. They were fast and appeared to be skilled. Apparently, Harris had hired the best of the best for this job. The car running the show slowly circled the development of the track. He was too busy over-seeing the progress to watch where he was going. The next thing Brian saw was the car bumping into the side of a pile of stacked railings.

Brian chuckled to himself as watched the boss look around the compound for anyone who might have seen his little accident. To sooth his embarrassment, the car found it comforting that no one had seen him. He continued to drive around the perimeter of the track as he surveyed his workers.

Sitting there, Brian had a thought. Of course, that thought was Sadie. He found that it was the only thing that filled his mind since the night he met her at the bar in 1952. He ached every time he thought about just how much he missed her right now. He always missed her when she wasn't around. It was discouraging to know that his best friend wasn't sitting here next to him at this very moment. But then, he didn't feel so lonely once he remembered that he would be able to see her tonight at the bar.

He told himself never to look at her like he wanted something. And he didn't, but somehow he still knew every inch of her curves. The way natural and interior lighting reflected off her body, and how it complimented her more.

She had a small, very small knick just above her rear bumper from backing up just a little too far at one point in time. That knick seemed to be the only thing from making her completely perfect in Brian's mind. She was, in everyone else's minds too, Sadie was down right gorgeous for a car.

Brian remembered everything about her, he could see her clearly in his mind. He reflected on her color tone of teal, and how glossy she was. Everything from finishing chrome to the glow of her tail lights made him feel alive. Sadie gave life a whole new meaning to him.

Now he was thinking about the way she drove. She was elegant, and smooth. Sadie drove with perfection, and expertise, driving effortlessly; floating like a cloud on soft spring mornings. Gentle in every way.

Sadie's laughter also appealed to Brian's other senses. Her laughter was soothing, and oh so pretty. Not only was she gorgeous, but she had a voice that could make anyone do anything. Sadie's smile was to die for, it was sweet and caring; sincere more than anything.

Her smile matched her seductive eyes, the eyes that couldn't be ignored by anything on the planet that knew what true beauty was.

Not only were her looks impressive, but Sadie's personality was amazing. She was even on everything. Her temperament was just perfect; not too anxious, but not too laid back. She always saw the right and wrong to everything, and looked at things logically. Sadie knew when to be playful, and when to be serious. She knew the times when to stand up for herself, and when to back down. Sadie could keep a conversation alive for hours because she was never boring.

She just seemed to be in the middle of every personality trait possible, it was just right. Sadie was a natural at life, something that Brian wished he was good at. Yeah, he was level-headed, but he couldn't compare to Sadie's train of thought.

All the information she's ever given him was etched in his memory forever. Even the stupid, pointless stuff he could remember.

And that's how he knew, that's how Brian knew he was in love.

"Excuse me,_ sir_." A voice from behind Brian said harshly.

He was startled from his thoughts and out of his precious daydream upon hearing that. Brian didn't like that tone one bit. He turned around to see what loon would ever dare insult him in such a way, didn't care who it was. Brian sneered in his direction, "For what?" He asked.

The car that confronted Brian had a posse of other workers behind him carrying an overload of equipment back to the construction site of the asphalt track. "You're in our way..."

Brian noticed the other cars that sat before him straining to keep a hold of the equipment and supplies. He looked them over, then back at the one who addressed Brian earlier. "You can't go around?"

The car was already agitated, and Brian wasn't helping him. "If you don't mind, please move _out _of our _way_ so we can get on with our _job_." The car huffed as he glared at Brian.

Brian smirked, "No need to get angry with me, it's not my fault that the boss man has been making you guys work double shifts and overtimes." With that, he backed out of the way to let them pass. A series of muttered curses escaped some of the workers as they passed Brian.

The green car didn't care. He didn't know them, and he certainly wasn't their friend.

He left the construction site to move somewhere else in the compound. On the main track, he could see many of last year's Piston Cup racers practicing and keeping in shape for this upcoming season. Next to the main track, Brian saw several rookies navigating their way through the same track that he had Doc race on their first day of training.

He snickered as he remembered that being the day he let Doc embarrass himself, only to wind up racing on that_ go-cart _track, as he so called it. He only hoped that next year's rookies didn't do anything like that so far. Two weeks have passed since the end of the 1953 Piston Cup season, but it seemed as if it was just yesterday that Doc won his third Piston Cup.

Brian sighed as he continued to move on. He needed a break from the compound and the heat it gathered from sitting in the sun and having a fair amount of racers burning up their engines each day. He drove towards the beach, escaping the never ending sound of blended engines.

The waves reassured him in many ways. The sounds, sights and smells felt good to him. The sun may have been high in the sky, but it didn't stop the spray that the ocean gave off to cool him down. Brian moved closer to where the sea and beach met. He wasn't afraid of the water touching his tires at the moment, the feeling of how cold it was in November only made it appeal to him more.

Brian stared into the water in front of him, his gaze never leaving the spot where the waves left and came back repeatedly.

His tires got cold again as the water came back up to him. This time, it wasn't as cold. He was getting used to how it felt and decided to drive just a little bit closer. Still, he didn't care about what he was doing.

Brian continued to stare into the water. He could see what appeared to be every kind of shell imaginable in one place. All the colors and shapes were different, they were unique in some form or another.

He backed up slightly to look at the horizon. The sea wasn't completely calm, but it wasn't rough either. The Atlantic Ocean just went on forever, and it gave Brian something to think about at the moment. It only kept his attention for a short period of time before Brian looked into his mirror to see a car approaching him.

Brian didn't bother to turn around and greet the car, for he had a long ways to go until the car reached where he sat at the present moment. He continued to watch the car as he tried to avoid certain parts of loose sand. It was amusing to Brian, watching the car daintily move around as if he's never seen sand in his life.

Brian wasn't paying attention to the ocean. Before he knew it, a rogue wave crashed into Brian's grill and splashed all over the front of him and up his hood. He jumped back at the sudden shock and shook off what ever excess water still remained on him.

It didn't make him mad, but it was enough for Brian to feel like an idiot.

"Gross..." He mumbled as he licked the water off his lips. He wasn't about to let the salt dry on him like that. Somehow he'd get the rest of the salt off him, but for now, that didn't matter to him.

As Brian was still trying to rid himself of what was still left on him, the car that had crossed the wide stretch of beach to talk to him pulled up beside him. It was Harris.

"What you doing all the way out here, Brian?" He asked.

Brian spat, he didn't like the taste of the salt that remained in his mouth. "Just thinking." He told him.

Harris watched the waves curiously as he spoke to Brian. "How's the track look to you so far?"

Brian laughed slightly. "What track? There's no track there, yet..."

Harris shifted his tires, finally getting used to the feel this part of nature called sand. "I know that... But how do you like the layout? I noticed that you were watching them work."

Brian watched the waves along with Harris, he no longer trusted the sea after what had just happened. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't really paying attention to them. I was just... there."

Harris sighed, "You alright?" It wasn't uncommon for Brian to act somewhat sad whenever he was around the compound, but it was odd for him to be distracted.

"Oh yeah. I'm fine, George. I've just got a lot of nonsense to deal with right now, if you know what I mean..." Brian answered plainly.

"Well," Harris started as he put himself into reverse. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Just remember if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

In his mind, Brian laughed. Like he would ever come running to Harris at times like these. But he simply smiled and accepted that offer from Harris.

That reminded him of something else. He wondered if Norton was planning on coming back to the bar tonight. Although he doubted it, he'd just have to wait and see.

He was watching Harris gingerly head back towards the center of the compound when another wave crashed into Brian's grill. This time, it moved all the way up on his windshield and across his door panels. Brian sat there in disbelief, blinking away the water as the rest of the liquid rolled off him and into the sand around him.

He grimaced in slight fury as he once again shook off the excess water. "Sick! That was wrong! Oh... gross..." He not only could taste the saltwater all over again, but now he constantly smelled it.

He backed up and started to drive away from the beach before that kind of incident could happen again. He didn't bother trying to catch up to Harris, Brian was too worried that he might hit some loose sand and have it bounce up in face. The last thing he needed was to have sand caked on the front half of his body.

Brian found himself acting just as dainty as Harris. He highly doubt that Harris had ever raced before, it was a wonder why he picked such a profession to own.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joanna was sitting in the living room later that night reading this morning's paper that she was forced to get herself at the corner store earlier. She had just gotten done cleaning the house and putting things back where they belonged, and now she had time to relax.

Mason was somewhere she didn't know, and James still wasn't back from his date. She smiled, it was apparently going well for both cars.

Doc and Laura were still wandering around town together. He most likely treated her to the movies at the end of the week like he always does. Once again, Joanna didn't expect Doc to saunter on through the front door any time soon.

She looked at the clock on the wall in front of her. She sighed when she read the time. Dave would be home any minute now, and that meant her peace would be disrupted for the night.

In that exact moment, Dave burst through the front door with a smile so bright it could put the sun to shame. "Joanna! Guess what!"

She smiled slightly and put the paper away, all while studying his attitude. "What?" She asked, approaching him slowly.

Dave drove up to her gave her a huge, unexpected kiss. Joanna was shocked at his behavior as she sat there with him.

The maroon car pulled away from her, ending the kiss, and nudged her playfully. Joanna hadn't seen this side of Dave in a long time, it brought back the only good memories she had of him. The point in their marriage that actually meant something.

"You're not gonna try to guess?" He asked her, out of breath from his quick race home.

"Oh, Dave, just tell me already." Joanna tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Dave smiled big and looked deep into her eyes. He was so wrapped up in his own world that he looked right past how troubled she was. "I got the company!"

Joanna's eyes lit up. "Wow! Way to go, Dave." She told him. Their fate as a married couple was confirmed, now Dave was going to be even more consumed in his job each day from here on in. This really just wasn't going to be able to work out for her. She doubted if anyone else in their household would notice that Dave was going to be absent more often than usual.

"Thanks, honey. I finally got the company, it's all mine! It's a big responsibility, but I can make it work!" He gave her a quick kiss, catching his wife off guard again. "Do you know what this means?"

"What does it mean, Dave?" She asked, even though she knew exactly what it meant.

He laughed slightly, for he was lost in this moment. "How about a night on the town, just you and me?" He continued to look into her eyes for an answer, still looking past her pain.

She smirked, "Now why would you wanna show up for work tomorrow morning hammered? That's not a very good first impression..." She reasoned.

Dave smirked back jokingly. "Who said we need to go to a bar to have fun tonight? A night on the town doesn't always necessarily mean drinking..."

Damn, Joanna thought, I _really_ need a drink right about now...

"Alright," She started, "Where do you wanna go?"

"I dunno yet. How about we drive around town until we find something to do?" Joanna looked at him funny, he rolled his eyes and smiled. "I know I haven't exactly planned anything out for us, but what do you say? Just the two of us?"

His words gave off a slight hint of being desperate. For some reason, Joanna wondered why. But again, she couldn't ignore his small plea. "I think it's time we celebrated..."

Dave sighed in relief and headed for the door. Joanna followed him, briefly hesitant.


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Brian drove into the bar that Friday night. It was packed, Fridays always were.

As usual, a round of blended cheers from practically every car in there were shouted to greet Brian. They were all envious of the green car, for who he is and what he's done. They were especially jealous of Brian's position with Sadie.

But to Brian's surprise, there were a fair amount of cars parked at the bar strip waiting for Sadie to come by them and give them their order. She appeared to be a little stressed out. But to anyone else's eyes, she had everything under control.

He drove up to the bar strip and greeted Sadie. "How are we doing this evening?" He asked.

Sadie didn't have time to look at Brian as she gave the car next to him what he ordered. "I'm doing good, yourself?"

Before Brian could answer her, she was already moving her way down to the other end of the bar strip down by the supply room. Brian watched as a beer was placed on the long, narrow piece of wood that was in front of everyone to hold their drinks.

"Heads up!" She called.

It got everyone's attention at the bar strip, and they all moved out of the way as that single beer was sent sliding towards Brian to the other end. He stopped it with his right front tire, the beer now sat directly in front of Brian's grill, ready to enjoy. Sadie had told Brian a long time ago that she had learned that trick back in Tennessee before she moved here.

"She's mighty busy tonight..." Brian mumbled to himself as he prepared to take a sip.

He was too busy in his own thoughts to notice that the car next to him that Sadie had just served was staring at him. "Special treatment?"

Brian put his beer down, completely confused by the car's statement. "Excuse me?" He asked, turning slightly to look at his neighbor.

The big, heavy sedan also turned slightly to look at the green car. "I've been waiting here for a long time, and I _just now _got my drink. You show up... and it's like you have a reservation."

Brian scoffed, it was apparent that this car was new here and didn't know who he was talking to. Most of the time, Brian always introduced himself to whoever decided to give him an attitude. Of course, Brian always ended up showing the car who's boss, but tonight, Brian didn't feel like starting an argument with this guy.

But for some reason, Brian couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Get over it. You got your beer, didn't you?"

The sedan backed up in astonishment at Brian's remark. "Who do you think you're dealing with?"

That's when Brian noticed the thick New York accent. He was talking to someone who just might have a connection to mobsters. Brian didn't want to bring this little town in South Carolina any trouble, and he certainly didn't want to bring this bar any trouble. This place had great cars, decent cars, and he wasn't about to let his insults take this place away from them. "Alright, okay... Settle down, and I'll buy you a beer..."

There was no response from the sedan as he resumed his place at the bar to finish the beer he already had. At least that was all the car wanted, beer.

Brian sighed as he looked around the rest of the bar. No one had noticed that little trade-off between him and the sedan. He was thankful for that, he didn't want to start any trouble. As he looked around the bar, and at all the faces of each car, he felt as if he was responsible for every one of them. He had always felt the need to be protective over them, and he did when it came time to do that. Because when ever there was trouble, the cars in this bar were first to stand up to Brian's threat.

It was sort of a way of knowing that they'll always be there in times of the bad. Brian had been there for them first, and he always will be, even if he didn't know the names of half of them.

In that exact moment, Brian heard the double doors to the bar open. He did a 180 to see who it was.

It was Norton, and he had just spotted Brian.

"Wow, you actually made it out of the house tonight..." Brian said as Norton drove up to him.

Norton smiled back, "I'm not completely whipped..."

Brian laughed at that, "It takes a lot to admit that you're whipped, Norton."

"After last night, there's no denying it."

Norton and Brian turned to the bar strip, only to have Sadie immediately supply them with two beers each.

"Go outside and drink them, I need the space in here." She told them both before taking off to the other side of the bar strip once again. Sadie was no where to be seen or heard once she was gone from where she just was.

The sedan, angry, turned towards the two. "Again, special treatment!"

Brian wanted desperately to say something back, but there was no need for a fight. He simply left enough money for a beer for the car. He turned to Norton, "C'mon, let's leave before we get blocked in here..."

With that, the two drove outside with their beers in tow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_What don't you understand, pal?" Brian asked, driving closer to the car._

"_I understand you better stop talking to me if you know what's good for you, this doesn't concern you..." Derek said, once again turning away from Brian to Sadie. _

"_It does if it concerns Sadie." _

_Brian picked up his beer can and drained it on Derek's hood. Everyone at the bar that night watched as the liquid ran down to the ground. _

"_Don't worry, I didn't waste too much beer on you, there was only a little left." Brian then set the can on Derek's hood and sat back. _

_Derek looked from Brian, to the can, and back to Brian. He shook the can off and let it roll away. "That wasn't too smart..." _

_He started to roll over to Brian, but Sadie got in his way. "Leave him alone!" _

_Brian stepped on the can before reaching around Sadie to chuck it at Derek. A small, visible scratch was now sitting on Derek's hood after the can ricocheted off him. _

_Examining the mark, Derek looked up at Brian in disgust. _

"_What?" Brian asked. "No one will notice ugly on ugly." _

"_Now you--" _

_Sadie cut, hoping to end the argument. "Stop!" _

_Derek turned to Sadie. "Oh, I get it, you're going out with this guy aren't you? Is that it?" _

"_It shouldn't matter, I broke up with you. Please leave." _

"_I wanna know who this guy is that you're protecting behind you. What's he got that I don't?" _

_Brian laughed slightly. "I see your observation skills have failed once again!"_

_Derek looked at him oddly. "When did I fail the first time?"_

_"You failed to realize that you don't talk to either of us like that. To anyone, for that matter..." Brian rolled his eyes. "But anyways, what are you not getting? We aren't going out." He assured him. _

_Sadie backed up out of the way as Derek drove around her to face the green car. "Sadie, give me another can." Brian said, keeping a close eye on the car in front of him. I'll have to put this one through his window, guess he didn't learn the first time."_

"_So, you think you're better than me?" Derek asked with a snarl. _

"_She's not yours, and she's not mine, what's there to comprehend?" _

"_What's that supposed to mean?" _

"_Honestly, are you that dumb? Or are you always this stubborn?" _

"_You've got a mouth on you…" Derek stated, driving closer to him._

"_I'm just saying that you don't deserve her." _

_Derek sat back on his shocks. "Oh, and you do?" _

"_Nope, no one does." _

"_Then why are you doing sticking up for her?" _

"_It's called being polite. You should pick up on that trait, it comes in handy. Maybe you can get some other girl with it, who knows." Brian paused and took a careful look at Derek. "I can't see why Sadie went out with you, I really don't know what she saw. You don't know how to treat her." _

"_Again, you do?" _

"_And what if I did?" Brian asked, his eyes narrowing driving closer. _

"_You think you're all brave, right?" _

_Brian smiled at him, "Depends on what you consider brave." _

_He scoffed. "You're not worth going to jail for tonight..." _

_Derek started to drive out of the bar, Sadie and Brian didn't start talking until he was gone. "Hey, thanks for that, not many cars stand up to him. I don't know how he found me here." _

_It's really hard to forget something so gorgeous as yourself rolling through town, Brian thought, I'm sure Derek picked up lots of information..._

"_See," Brian started, "There's your stalker, but I'd like another beer..." _

_Sadie drove back behind the bar strip as she laughed, "Yeah, I bet he is." _

"_So, what were we talking about before the interruption?"_

Norton chuckled softly to himself. "So that's why Derek hates you..." He said, once Brian finished the story.

Brian laughed. "No, Derek hates everyone."

Brian looked down at the two beers in front of him that he was on the verge of finishing. "At least," He started, gaining the attention of Norton, "At least the winter's air keeps our beers cold..."

Norton nodded, once again looking off into space. "Yep..."

In the distance, the two cars noticed a pair of distant headlights that had been approaching them for a long time. It wasn't until now did they care, but as the car passed under a streetlight, Norton recognized who it was.

"Perfect..." He breathed, somewhat annoyed.

Brian turned to Norton, concerned. "What's wrong? Who is it?"

"It's Carol..."

Brian chuckled loudly, "Oh ho, this should be interesting!" Apparently, Brian had chuckled too loudly, because Norton glared at him silently. "I mean," Brian said, clearing his throat, "Sorry for your loss..."

Norton rolled his eyes.

They continued to watch Carol get closer to them. The two sat there in the darkness as she proceeded to go through the bar's double doors.

That's when Norton spoke up. "Uhh, Carol, darling, over here..." He said.

Carol lashed around at the surprise. She knew there were cars nearby, but she didn't expect one of them to be her husband. "Bradley?"

Brian snickered, "Bradley..."

Again, Norton glared at him. The green car quickly dropped his smile and held a straight face as Carol approached them.

"Bradley, what are you doing out here?"

"Enjoying the night's air, why are you here?" He shot back.

"Sorry," She snipped, "I had to meet who was more important than me."

Oh hell no she didn't, Brian thought.

Brian drove out of the shadows. "That would be me."

Carol was expecting to see the girl that Norton mentioned from the night before. Jealousy and curiosity had forced her to come here and find out. She even had her whole side of the conversation planned out that she intended on telling to this girl. But Carol was a bit speechless. Brian was extremely charming, with a smooth voice to match. He was down right gorgeous, too, as handsome as they came.

She fluttered her eyes at him. "I'm so sorry about that... please forgive me."

Brian looked her up and down. She was pretty, but he didn't appreciate the fact that a married woman was flirting with him. Although it happened a lot, he didn't want it to be Norton's wife. "Don't worry about it..." He told her.

Norton sighed. "I'm gonna get us some new beers, be right back."

Brian set a tire in front of him before he left. "Don't leave me here with your wife, please!" He whispered softly.

Norton only laughed slightly. "It'll be okay, just sit there..." He told him before taking off inside with the four empty beer glasses.

Just as Norton disappeared into the bar, Carol started to circle him. "So, who's this girl that Bradley mentioned?" She asked as she faded into the shadows behind him.

"Sadie." Brian stated plainly.

He tensed as Carol came back around the front, about to pass him the second time. "She your girlfriend?"

Brian swallowed hard before he answered. "No, best friend."

Carol once again disappeared into the shadows. It was then that Brian felt one of her tires slide across the entire length of the bottom of his door panel, all the way to his rear fender near his tires.

Brian shied away from Carol before she did anything else to him. "Mrs. Norton--"

She reappeared in front of him with a sly smile. "Please, call me Carol..."

Damn me and my good looks, Brian thought.

Norton came back out of the bar with two beers. Brian sighed in relief as Carol backed away from him to greet her husband. "Bradley... there you are." She said, smiling.

"Hey, darling..." He replied, parking beside her to rest near her. He smiled at Brian and slid him the other beer.

Brian looked at it for a moment, pondering this situation. He wondered if the two beers he drank previously had made him imagine Carol's behavior. But it didn't, and that's what made him mad. He couldn't believe what Carol had done. Norton was a good, honest guy, and loved her a lot. For her to do something like that made him question on just how many affairs she might have had during their marriage.

He wished that Carol would have kissed him before Norton came out. At least that way, Norton could see just what kind of woman she was if he caught them in the act. But the thought that Norton might think it was Brian's idea made him let go of that thought. He didn't want Norton mad at him, he was his friend.

"What's wrong?" Norton asked, noticing Brian's shocked behavior.

Brian took his gaze off his beer. "What?"

"You're staring at your beer like it's gonna attack you, what's wrong?"

"Oh... nothing, I'm fine." He took a sip of his beer to prove that he was.

Norton snuggled Carol, "I'm sorry, honey, I forgot to ask, how was your day?"

She laughed lightly, "It was wonderful."

Brian was disgusted with Carol. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna check on Sadie..." He left them before either of the two had a chance to say anything.

He quickly drove inside the bar, he frantically rushed to the bar strip to find Sadie. "Hey, how about I save you, and you save me?" He asked her.

"What?" That question stopped Sadie from what ever task she was doing.

"Your shift's almost over, isn't it?"

Sadie looked at the clock. "Yeah, but I can't leave until Chuck gets here..."

"Damn..." Brian said to himself.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned by Brian's odd behavior.

"I'm a bit freaked out, I'll explain it at your place."

To save Brian the misery of waiting outside with Norton and Carol, Chuck popped through the bar's double doors.

Brian grinned and drove up to him, Sadie was tagging along behind him. "You know you're awesome, right?" Brian asked him.

Chuck looked at him questionably, "How?"

Brian drove out of the bar instead of answering. Sadie only followed, still confused.

The two saw Norton and Carol sitting beneath the streetlight, talking. Norton drove up to Brian and Sadie. "Is the night over already?" He asked them.

Sadie nodded, "My shift's up, Brian and I are heading home." She was eager to find out what's got Brian so wired.

Norton agreed, "I think Carol and I are gonna head home ourselves. Again, thanks for the beers." He smiled at both cars before turning back to Carol. "Lets get going, shall we?"

Norton turned to leave, Carol stayed back slightly to wink at Brian.

"Carol, you coming?" Norton called back.

Carol smiled at Brian before following Norton back onto the road and back home.

"What was_ that _all about?" Sadie asked.

Brian shook himself to get rid of horrible thoughts. "I'm gonna need a strong shot of vodka when we get to your place, if you don't mind..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian was sitting in the living room that night thinking about today's events when the front door was being tried. As the door opened, Brian could see a dark blue figure pushing his way through.

"Hey, Hudson, how'd your day go?"

"Oh, the day went great," Doc started as he turned around to close the door. "It went great up until just now..." He proceeded to go to bed.

"You wanna talk about it?" Brian asked.

Doc turned back to look at him. "Brian, you can't help me on this one. Trust me."

Brian gave him a warm smile, "I'm about to not trust you. C'mon, this is me you're talking to, the relationship expert..."

Doc chuckled softly, "Right... right I forgot. You know everything there is because you've had... how many girlfriends now?"

Brian shifted on his tires proudly. "I lost count, to tell you the truth. Hell... I've forgotten all their names, so I resorted to giving them numbers after I broke up with them. I actually lost count doing something easy. Isn't that funny?" Brian's never been rejected. He usually asks the girls out, finds out that he accidentally made her fall in love with him and gets rid of her the moment she goes too far or gets bored with her.

It may sound cruel to others, but it's what he does.

"Brian, I'm tired. I don't feel like explaining anything to anyone..."

"Ohh, nonsense," Brian said, "Come over here and tell me what's wrong before I have to ask her. I won't have you guys get into a fight if you're not already in one." Deep down, Brian really was concerned about them. He hoped that Doc and Laura had future plans.

Doc growled softly, "Brian... please don't do this." He said, pulling up beside the green car.

Brian smiled, he won. "Okay, now you gotta tell me exactly what happened so I know what to tell you."

Doc looked at him questionably, but then thought about what went wrong. "Well, we were sitting in the living room, and all of a sudden she started acting different. I kept asking her what was wrong, but she kept telling me that she was fine."

Brian looked Doc up and down. That didn't sound like something Laura would do. "You sure that's all that happened?"

That question caught Doc off guard, maybe he had missed something. "I... I think so. Why?"

Brian laughed slightly under his breath. "Alright, I want you to do something for me. You're gonna have to be totally relaxed and calm, got it?"

"Depends..."

Brian rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious here. In order for this to work, you gotta be open minded."

He sighed, "What do I gotta do?"

"I want you to close your eyes and imagine the last time you saw her. I want you to remember that scene and play it out again. But make sure you put yourself in Laura's position, put yourself in her body."

Doc scoffed, "Where'd you learn that crazy trick from?"

"No no, it works! It really does, trust me. I learned it from an old girlfriend."

"Oh, one that you actually remember?"

"I remember select few..." Brian said, rocking on his tires slightly.

"Okay, so what am I supposed to do?" Doc asked, still not believing this would work. Although he had to admit, this was quite amusing to him. He decided to play along.

"Do what I said. Close your eyes and imagine the last time you saw her. More preferably the part that went wrong..." Brian said, looking at the clock. It was late, real late. He wondered where Joanna and Dave were. He knew that James and Mason had retired for the night.

Doc sighed and closed his eyes. Nothing came to mind. "Are you sure this is gonna work? It sounds stupid, Brian."

"Just do it, you baby."

Doc opened his eyes and looked at Brian.

"Go ahead, I'm sorry..." Brian said, waving a tire at him.

Doc once again closed his eyes. It was then that he could see it. The outlining of a room slightly lit up from a pale lamp in the corner. The room was dark, but Doc could see a figure across the room. He recognized that car as himself. He was looking at himself, which meant he had put himself in Laura's position. Doc was looking at the room through Laura's eyes.

Doc grunted softly and shifted on his tires to sink lower to the floor. He pushed his tires out and got comfortable.

Brian figured it was working. He figured he should speak up. "What do you see?" He asked gently.

Doc watched himself come closer from across the room. Through Laura's eyes, her vision started to bounce as she laughed. Her sight followed her movement as she glided to the other side of the room. Doc was still in her position, and he could tell that Laura was turning around to look at him, he remembered this part.

But then it happened, the part that Doc hadn't noticed before. Laura's figure flinched at his touch, something that Doc had completely looked past when he was with her.

Doc, sitting next to Brian, frowned and got to his tires. He continued to watch the scene play before him, and he didn't like what else he missed. He was upset with himself, and he wanted to apologize to Laura immediately.

Brian was confused, "What's going on? Did it work?"

Doc opened his eyes, he had seen enough. "Yeah, it worked..." He said, now he was angry. "Thanks, that really helped."

Brian perked up, he didn't expect it to.

Before going to bed, Doc turned around to look at Brian. "I don't know the girl who taught you that trick, but tell her I said thanks." With that, he continued on his way down the hall.

Brian sat there in the silence of the room. That silence disappeared as Brian began to laugh, he had made that up completely. He had improvised in the heat of the moment, and didn't expect that foolish idea to even get passed a bluff.

Oh well, he thought, it got Hudson through.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He wished he would have stayed at Sadie's place longer. Brian was bored, and he couldn't get to sleep. Then again, he realized that he couldn't keep her up all night telling her random stories. The time on the clock seemed to be purposely going slow, just to add to his misery.

Brian was beginning to worry as to where Joanna and Dave were. It was rare that they stayed out until two in the morning.

He scoffed at his thought. Joanna and Dave, having fun together? Getting along? Acting like happy married couples? What the hell...

He sighed. Brian didn't know who to be more worried about. Dave getting hurt when Joanna shoved the divorce in his face, or Joanna. He was favoring Joanna in this situation more, he didn't know why, but he was. He figured he cared more about her outcome than Dave's because he knew more of Joanna's side of the story.

Brian thought hard on whether or not he should approach Dave and talk to him about all of this. After all, the two were best friends, but that didn't mean Dave wouldn't get angry at him for putting his grill where it didn't belong.

He shifted his tires on his weight, he was so awake at this very moment. This week had been quite unusual. First, Norton came into the scene, and now Derek showed up again. And things _were_ a bit unstable with Doc and Laura.

Brian hoped that he never met Carol again. What had happened at the bar, stayed at the bar.

To get his mind off that particular subject, he thought about Sadie. Brian smiled, he had seen her sleeping form before. She was peaceful, still pretty even when she was sleeping.

Brian, a long time ago, had too much to drink and fell asleep at Sadie's place once before. He couldn't remember much from the previous night, but that didn't matter, because he was at Sadie's place.

He had woken up surprisingly early the next day, and wandered around the strange place until he realized where he was. Sadie's apartment.

The next thing he did was look for her. He found her, but she was still asleep; her alarm for work hadn't gone off yet. He didn't bother to wake her up, he was too busy admiring her from the doorway.

Brian doubted that anything had happened between them the night before. He also doubted that he said anything while he was getting drunk that would reveal his love for her or anything else on that matter. Brian was always the quiet one when he drank, he acted as if he were a mute; just simply watching the world go by him, occasionally laughing at what ever he found amusing.

Now Dave, he was a different story. He could put megaphones to shame with his loud mouth if you gave him more than his limit. Brian happened to recall on a time where him and the rest of his friends found the maroon car shouting random secrets of his in public.

Brian chuckled as he remembered that night. He found something out about Dave that he never knew. Come to think of it, he didn't know if Joanna knew until that night.

He shrugged that off and thought more about the morning he woke up at Sadie's place. Sitting there, in her doorway, he wished that someday, he'd be sleeping there beside her. Married for as long as they lived.

It was then that Brian heard muffled laughter. It was coming from outside. The front door burst open, and two cars rushed through.

"Hey, be quiet you two! Other cars in this house are trying to sleep..." Brian whispered, still startled.

Dave couldn't help but slam the door behind him. "Sorry..." He told him.

Brian sighed. "Where have you two been?"

"Having fun, we forgot how great this little town is." Dave said, glancing at Joanna.

Brian looked at them questionably. "You're anniversary isn't until December. What caused this little scenario?"

Dave laughed lightly. "I got the company!"

That statement seemed to stop time itself. Had Brian heard him correctly? "The company? It's all yours?"

"That's right, it's all mine!" With that, Dave drove off to his bedroom.

Joanna stayed behind to talk to Brian. Once reminded of the situation, and brought out of the good time she was having, she fell back into reality. "Yeah... Dave got the company."

Brian stared at the ground. "You gonna be okay?"

Joanna sighed and got Brian to look at her by nudging him with a tire. "All I can say, is that I'm happy for him..."

Brian continued to look at the ground. "Go ahead and get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow morning... Just don't break his heart, don't go too far with this..."

Joanna watched Brian retreat back to his bedroom. The only thing they could do now was wait it out.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Roses, she could smell roses. She didn't know why, but she knew they were here.

Laura opened her eyes and looked around the room. The morning light from the window to her right lit up patches of the wall here and there. Then she saw them. A whole bouquet of roses sat perfectly arched and arranged on her window sill. The early rays of the sun caught them magnificently, making the flowers vibrant. The water in the vase glistened, chasing those patches of small light in the room where ever they went.

She was in awe. It was the prettiest thing she'd ever seen.

As she drove up to them to get a better look, she began to wonder how they got there. It could only be her boyfriend, him having the only other key to her house. But what were they there for? She couldn't find a card on them.

This was by far the best thing she'd ever woken up to, besides Doc.

She opened up her bedroom door and began to drive down her hallway towards the living room. She wanted to know if he was still there. As expected, Doc sat there in the room reading the morning's paper.

He looked up from the article he was reading, and at her. He smiled brightly, liking her small look of confusion. "Good morning, darlin'. Did you sleep well?"

Laura sat in the hallway, looking around her house for any more surprises. "Yeah," She started, bringing her attention back to Doc. "I slept great. What are the roses for?"

Doc's smile lessened as he, too, remembered the reason. He didn't dare approach her. "It's an apology for last night." He shifted on his tires and put the newspaper to the side to look deeper into her beautiful eyes. "I hope you'll accept them for that."

Laura smiled. "You didn't have to buy flowers, but they're lovely, and thank you." He kept looking at her as if he had failed. "_But_, I accept your apology..."

Doc sighed and smiled in return, everything was back to normal. Last night had given him quite a few things to think about, and he could only wonder what was running through her mind. "Coffee's on, would you like some?"

She nodded, and Doc left for the kitchen. It was then that she finally entered the living room from the hallway. She sank lower to the floor, still on the verge of becoming totally awake.

Doc returned with their morning drinks. "If we go out on the porch, we can catch what's left of the sunrise. Wanna go?"

Laura drove up to him and kissed his fender. She smiled and took the drink. "That sounds like a great idea..."

She began to drive towards the door when Doc cut in front of her to open it for her. She looked at him oddly for his sudden action. "I'm not done apologizing." He said, laughing slightly.

She smirked and drove outside. "It's not like you don't already do that sort of stuff for me."

Doc drove outside as well and closed the door behind him before parking next to Laura. "Then what else would you like me to do for you?"

She leaned against his chassis and sighed. "You can keep me warm."

They had done this often, watching the rise and set of the sun, but that didn't make it any less special. The two of them always took this time to reflect on how lucky they were to find each other. One living without the other just wasn't an option.

Doc loved Laura with all he had, she was everything to him. Thoughts of marriage ran through his mind constantly, and he could tell that was the same for her.

He sighed, too, as he sank lower to the floor of the porch to watch the sunrise. He lived the perfect life. He had fortune and fame, best friends to die for, and most of all the girl of his dreams. But she was the one to make the difference. He never believed love was real until he met her.

The morning was quiet. It was that morning silence that made the sunrise beautiful and the sights memorable. From Laura's hillside house, the two could see the beach. If they listened closely, they could have heard the waves crashing on the shore.

The crisp morning air of November finally set in on them.

Doc was lost in his thoughts when he felt Laura shaking slightly. He looked at her, concerned. "Darlin', you're shivering. You wanna go back inside?"

She snuggled closer, leaning more on him. It was times like these when Doc felt invincible with her by his side. "I wanna stay out here with you..." She whispered before taking a sip of her hot coffee.

He smiled and continued to look at the ocean as Laura rested easy at his side. He wasn't doing a very good job at keeping her warm, even after he was asked to. He settled against her in attempt to shield her from the elements. He was, after all, her protector.

"Hey, later, you wanna go for a drive on the beach?"

Laura hummed as she thought on that for a moment. "Depends..." She told him.

"Oh?"

"It depends on whether or not those press swarm us again."

Doc chuckled softly. That was always a factor that stopped the couple from doing what ever they wanted during their relationship. "Well," He started, clearing his throat. "We could always go tonight."

She considered that. "A night under the stars, eh?"

"What ever you want, what ever you wanna do, darlin'..." Doc told her.

The two sat there, enjoying each others' company. Enjoying life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He curled away the extra parts of the chain link fence that still remained. Derek had made a nice, large hole in the fence that surrounded the South Carolina Racing Headquarters in a dense part of the forest to avoid being seen.

The compound was closed to the public during the off-season, only racers and the park's employees were allowed in at this time.

Derek made his way through the forest, he stopped once he got to the clearing. Not far from where he parked on the small hill, Doc was practicing on a dirt track. Brian wasn't far from the rail, giving the blue car orders. Mason and James stood by, waiting for orders of their own.

A little ways away, Dave, Joanna, Laura and Sadie sat together, waiting for Doc to finish up his final laps on the track.

"Thought you could get rid of me, huh?" Derek asked, talking to no one as he eyed Sadie.

"Well, I got news for you, babe, you can't escape me." He shifted on his tires anxiously. "You're mine, and no one else's..."

Derek turned his attention back to Doc as he started to slow down and exit the track. Mason and James followed, then Brian. A sting of jealously hit Derek as Brian drove up to Sadie and began talking to her. Smiles etched across their faces, laughing at something as they pulled up in front of Dave and Joanna.

Derek hated Brian for all he was. Not only did the green car embarrass him in front of a crowd_ twice_, but he was convinced that Sadie wanted nothing more than Brian, and only him in her life. Anger boiled inside of him the more he thought about the situation.

"This isn't over, Sadie Doll..." Derek said through gritted teeth. But he was running out of ideas to get her back. And every time he tried, Brian stood in the way.

He turned his gaze from them, and over to Doc and Laura.

"The Fabulous Hudson Hornet... and his girl... how cute..." He mocked, glaring at their relationship. The two were talking amongst themselves, nuzzling and giggling like happy couples should.

Then, out of nowhere, Derek smiled slyly. His smile grew bigger, into a grin that could only mean he was up to no good. He had thought of a plan, a plan so cruel, he didn't know he could be that mean. But he liked it, he loved it. It may not get Sadie back, but it was a plan much more satisfying.

"You're brilliant, Derek, brilliant..."

The plan was revenge, it was built solely on revenge.

The more he thought about it's possibilities and outcomes to destroy happiness, the more his smile grew. He began to laugh, it amused him too much not to. His plan was coming to form, and all he needed now was a date and time to do it. A place where everyone could feel the pain Derek was brewing. It seemed perfect, because no one would suspect he'd be behind it all.

"The best part of all, is that there won't be any cops involved!" He whispered.

He laughed more. "Fantastic... fantastic..." His laughter slowed, "Damn, Derek, you gotta stop talking to yourself..."

Derek switched into reverse and began to drive back through the chain link fence. He had a phone call to make, the call that would change everything.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hudson how could you?" She choked up as she sobbed. Laura could barely see the navy blue car that sat in front of her through her tears.

Doc went to drive up to her when she pulled away, completely confused at his actions. He stopped and confronted her. "Laura--" He tried to finish his sentence, but there was no excuse. What she had witnessed turned the world as they knew it, upside down.

She glared at the emerald car that sat next to Doc. But she couldn't handle it. She couldn't be here, she couldn't stay, she had to leave.

Laura spun around, heading for the exit when she ran into Joanna, who had heard the commotion.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Joanna asked desperately, noticing Laura's panicked look. "What happened?" She asked, grabbing her to keep her still.

Laura couldn't answer, she didn't know if she'd ever be able to. She looked back at Doc, who still stood there speechless. He caught her pained eyes, and tried to hold on to them, hoping maybe she'd stay there so they could talk.

Instead, she closed her eyes and rushed out the door, shaking free, away from Joanna. The broken couple never knew that'd be the last time they'd see each other ever again.

Joanna turned to Doc, looking for answers, when she saw for the first time the emerald car sitting next to him. The truth hit her in that instant, she had figured it out. "Oh..." She started, fury in her voice. "You little--"

She stopped when Brian entered the room. "Hey," He demanded. "What's wrong with Laura?"

Joanna was too busy glaring at the two to give Brian his answer. But they wouldn't have to, Brian caught on as well. "Hudson!" He snapped, in return catching the attention of the others at the 1954 Piston Cup Season Party.

Doc was struck with fear, Brian was the only one who could ever do that to him. "Brian--"

"I see you've got Slutty McSlut by your side..." Brian said, narrowing his eyes at the two.

The emerald car perked up at his retort. "Hey--"

Doc stopped her from advancing in his fight. "Don't worry, I'll handle this..." He whispered. Doc then turned his attention back to Brian and Joanna. "I can explain--"

"You can't explain anything!" Brian boomed. Dave, Mason, James and Sadie began to pull up. "Hudson, do you realize what you've done?!" While Brian continued to yell at Doc, Joanna explained the situation to them. Their confused expressions turned to hatred. It was then that Joanna and Sadie drove out of the party to find Laura, maybe calm her down.

"Brian," Doc started, still trying to keep the voice level down to a minimum. He didn't want the rest of the cars at the party to hear their conversation, but it was too late. "Calm down, and let me explain my side of the--"

"I don't want you to explain anything! I want you to find Laura, and apologize to that lovely girl for what you've done! You don't understand what kind of trouble you've caused, do you? You don't realize what you did to her! You screwed up a perfect relationship for... her!" Brian exclaimed, pointing a tire at the car who he dubbed Slutty McSlut.

"She has a name, Brian!" Doc yelled, matching his tone.

Brian threw himself backwards, almost hitting the wall. "Now you're sticking up for her!? Unbelievable, Hudson..." He cared too much about Doc and Laura to take it easy on him.

"If this is how you're gonna be, then I'm joining another team!" Doc had never been yelled at by Brian as he was now, this was the worst he's ever seen him, too. He had came at him with such a rush, he didn't know what to say in order to defend himself.

There was that awkward silence between the six as Doc told them his threat. Even the music stopped, the others at the party listening now.

Brian looked past Doc and to another place, still comprehending that statement. "Wait... what? Another team, I--"

"Actually, I already did..." Doc announced, finally feeling a small jolt of guilt.

Brian grimaced, once again his rage returning. Not just for Laura, but for everyone else. "Are you kidding me?!" He shrieked.

Doc drove closer, he wasn't going to try and break this news to him nice anymore. "No! I'm not!"

Dave decided to step in, all this was completely wrong. "You've got to be! Because this isn't you, Hudson."

Brian did a circle and came back, refusing to take his anger out on the blue car in front of everyone. "Listen, if I knew this is how it was going to turn out, I wouldn't have started to train you!"

Dave got Brian's attention, "You didn't know how this was going to end, so it's not your fault--"

"No, it's yours!"

"Mine? How?" Dave was taken back. How could Brian possibly blame him for what was happening?

"If you hadn't showed me Hudson, none of this would have happened!" Brian came to the conclusion that his second chance at life was now becoming a failure. This is how it was going to end. For Brian, it was over. His best friend decided to betray them all, it was just a waste of time.

"Hey! You agreed to training him. I was just trying to be a good friend and help your sorry excuse for a life out!" Dave wasn't going to be blamed for the situation.

"No, I was forced to! _You _made me train him, in an attempt to make things better!" Brian turned back to Doc. "You ruined everything, you broke everything your friends have ever given you." He was beginning to think that training Doc wasn't worth it. The booze would have been just fine, he didn't need a new best friend.

"Are you happy, Hudson?" Brian asked, continuing. "I'm gonna resign again. Yeah, that's right. I hope you have fun with your new team, hope it was better than what you had with us. Have a wonderful life with Slutty McSlut, let's just hope she can replace Laura..."

Doc flinched at Brian's statements, he had really screwed up.

"Go ahead and live your life, be merry." Brian's sarcasm was getting deeper by the second. "Don't bother apologizing to these nice cars at the party tonight, I'm sure they didn't mind watching you become such a prick. I can't wait to hear your statement in the newspaper tomorrow morning about your break-up with Laura, I'm looking forward to that very much..."

As everyone stood there in stunned silence, Brian turned to leave when he came back. "Oh, by the way. If I see your face again, I'll pound your hood in. Not for my own satisfaction of beating some sense into you, but for Laura..." He cast a gaze to the ground before finally leaving the party room in silence.

Doc looked at James and Mason with an apologetic look, but they just sighed and followed Brian out. The two could only pray this would be worked out.

The blue car looked at Dave, who was probably the most forgiving car on the planet. The only thing he got in return from the businessman was a look of pity. There was nothing he wanted to say to the car he once sponsored. "Farewell, Hudson..."

Dave turned and left, what was said and done would never be forgotten by Doc for as long as he lived. The stares from the others in the room melted into him, scaring him. He looked at the emerald car beside him. She sat there proudly, as if she had won a war single handedly. The reason behind her smug little grin, Doc would never know.

In a corner of the room, in the back, sitting alone, a car laughed to himself. The car watched as everyone resumed order. Some leaving, some forming groups to talk about the situation.

"Easy," Derek said, taking a sip of his drink. "That was too easy..."


End file.
